- of or expressed in a symbol or symbols
- that serves as a symbol (of something)
- characterized by symbolism
Origin of symbolic
Late Latin symbolicus from Classical Greek symbolikosAlso sym·bol′i·cal
adjective
- Smiling is an example of a symbolic gesture of welcome.
- Writing a letter to someone you have been fueding with for years is an example of a symbolic gesture that can signify forgiveness.
The definition of symbolic is serving as a representation or is something that has a greater meaning because of what it represents.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"symbolic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic>.
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symbolic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic
symbolic
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"symbolic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic>.
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symbolic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic
symbolic
also sym·bol·i·cal
adjective
- a. Serving as a symbol: Roses are symbolic of love.b. Serving as a particular instance of a broader pattern or situation; representative: The new building is symbolic of the recent changes that have taken place in the neighborhood.
- Of, relating to, or expressed by means of symbols or a symbol: the symbolic meaning of the poem.
- Using symbolism: symbolic art.
Related Forms:
- sym·bol′i·cal·ly
adverb
- sym·bol′i·cal·ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"symbolic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic>.
APA Style
symbolic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic
Adjective
(comparative more symbolic, superlative most symbolic)
- Pertaining to a symbol.
- Referring to something with an implicit meaning.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"symbolic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic>.
APA Style
symbolic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Symbolic
Sentence Examples
- There are several symbolic acts descriptive of the siege.
- It will be shown later that all invariants, single or simultaneous, are expressible in terms of symbolic products.
- To express the function aoa2 - _ which is the discriminant of the binary quadratic aoxi -+-2a1x2x2-+a2x2 = ai =1, 1, in a symbolic form we have 2(aoa 2 -ai) =aoa2 +aGa2 -2 a1 � al = a;b4 -}-alb?
- Of the symbolic factors of the form are replaced by IA others in which new variables y1, y2 replace the old variables x1, x 2 .
- Given any propositions involving any number of terms, Boole showed how, by the purely symbolic treatment of the premises, to draw any conclusion logically contained in those premises.
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WORDS NEAR symbolic IN THE DICTIONARY
- symbolic
- * symbol
- symbol
- symbol set