icon

noun

Etymology: From Latin īcōn, from Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn, “likeness, image, portrait”). Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded in 1982.

1. An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
2. A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.

   “Last week the Archdiocese sent emmissaries to investigate the icon and decided that the tears were not a hoax, Father Koufos said.”

3. A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.

   “That man is an icon in the business; he personifies loyalty and good business sense.”

   “Only a handful of rock musicians have become genuine icons - larger-than-life symbolic figures whose personal triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror the ups and downs of rock as a whole, and sometimes of the society that nurtures it. Often, rock icons become the objects of personality cults that tend to overshadow their musical accomplishments.”

4. A small picture that represents something.

   “Click the loudspeaker icon to configure audio settings.”

   “The program's most quintessentially Macintoshian feature, one as yet unique among spreadsheets, is its icon bar, which resides at the top of the screen just below the standard menu bar. It contains 21 icons, each of which allows the user to perform a specified function with but a few clicks of the mouse.”

5. A small picture that represents something.

   “Is it okay if I use your drawing as my icon?”

6. A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.

   “.”