symbol
    n 1: an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a
         conventional significance
    2: something visible that by association or convention
       represents something else that is invisible; "the eagle is a
       symbol of the United States" [syn: symbol, symbolization,
       symbolisation, symbolic representation]

Symbol \Sym"bol\ (s[i^]m"b[o^]l), n. [L. symbolus, symbolum, Gr.
   sy`mbolon a sign by which one knows or infers a thing, from
   symba`llein to throw or put together, to compare; sy`n with +
   ba`llein to throw: cf. F. symbole. Cf. Emblem, Parable.]
   1. A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything
      which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by
      resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation;
      a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage;
      the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
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            A symbol is a sign included in the idea which it
            represents, e. g., an actual part chosen to
            represent the whole, or a lower form or species used
            as the representative of a higher in the same kind.
                                                  --Coleridge.
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   2. (Math.) Any character used to represent a quantity, an
      operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.
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   Note: In crystallography, the symbol of a plane is the
         numerical expression which defines its position
         relatively to the assumed axes.
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   3. (Theol.) An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a
      creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.
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   4. [Gr. ? contributions.] That which is thrown into a common
      fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. [Obs.]
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            They do their work in the days of peace . . . and
            come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.
                                                  --Jer. Taylor.
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   5. Share; allotment. [Obs.]
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            The persons who are to be judged . . . shall all
            appear to receive their symbol.       --Jer. Taylor.
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   6. (Chem.) An abbreviation standing for the name of an
      element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin
      or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with
      a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium
      (Natrium), Fe for iron (Ferrum), Sn for tin (Stannum),
      Sb for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names
      and symbols under Element.
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   Note: In pure and organic chemistry there are symbols not
         only for the elements, but also for their grouping in
         formulas, radicals, or residues, as evidenced by their
         composition, reactions, synthesis, etc. See the diagram
         of Benzene nucleus, under Benzene.
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   Syn: Emblem; figure; type. See Emblem.
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Symbol \Sym"bol\, v. t.
   To symbolize. [R.] --Tennyson.
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SYMBOL. A sign; a token; a representation of one thing by another. 
     2. A symbolical delivery is equivalent, in many cases, in its legal 
effects, to actual delivery; as, for example, the delivery of the keys of a 
warehouse in which goods are deposited, is a delivery sufficient to transfer 
the property. 1 Atk. 171; 5 John. 335; 2 T. R. 462; 7 T. R. 71; 2 Campb. 
243; 1 East, R. 194; 3 Caines, 182; 1 Esp. 598; 3 B. & C. 423. 

SYMBOL, n.  Something that is supposed to typify or stand for
something else.  Many symbols are mere "survivals" -- things which
having no longer any utility continue to exist because we have
inherited the tendency to make them; as funereal urns carved on
memorial monuments.  They were once real urns holding the ashes of the
dead.  We cannot stop making them, but we can give them a name that
conceals our helplessness.