EMBLEM

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does emblem mean? 

• EMBLEM (noun)
  The noun EMBLEM has 2 senses:

1. special design or visual object representing a quality, type, group, etc.

2. a visible symbol representing an abstract idea

  Familiarity information: EMBLEM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EMBLEM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Special design or visual object representing a quality, type, group, etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("emblem" is a kind of...):

design; figure; pattern (a decorative or artistic work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "emblem"):

colors; colours (a distinguishing emblem)

colophon (a publisher's emblem printed in a book (usually on the title page))

totem pole (a tribal emblem consisting of a pillar carved and painted with totemic figures; erected by Indian tribes of the northwest Pacific coast)

totem (emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant; serves as the symbol of a family or clan (especially among American Indians))

skull and crossbones (emblem warning of danger or death)

heraldry (emblem indicating the right of a person to bear arms)

flag (emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design)

device (an emblematic design (especially in heraldry))

Cross (a representation of the structure on which Jesus was crucified; used as an emblem of Christianity or in heraldry)

crest ((heraldry) in medieval times, an emblem used to decorate a helmet)

Derivation:

emblematic (serving as a visible symbol for something abstract)

emblematic (being or serving as an illustration of a type)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A visible symbol representing an abstract idea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

allegory; emblem

Hypernyms ("emblem" is a kind of...):

symbol; symbolic representation; symbolisation; symbolization (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "emblem"):

Hakenkreuz; swastika (the official emblem of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich; a cross with the arms bent at right angles in a clockwise direction)

spread eagle (an emblem (an eagle with wings and legs spread) on the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States)

medallion (an emblem indicating that a taxicab is registered)

maple-leaf (the emblem of Canada)

Agnus Dei; Paschal Lamb (figure of a lamb; emblematic of Christ)

badge (an emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.))

Magen David; Mogen David; Shield of David; Solomon's seal; Star of David (a six-pointed star formed from two equilateral triangles; an emblem symbolizing Judaism)

red flag (the emblem of socialist revolution)

hammer and sickle (the emblem on the flag of the Soviet Union)

ensign; national flag (an emblem flown as a symbol of nationality)

fasces (bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade protruding; in ancient Rome it was a symbol of a magistrate's power; in modern Italy it is a symbol of fascism)

elephant (the symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874)

eagle (an emblem representing power)

dove (an emblem of peace)

donkey (the symbol of the Democratic Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874)

cupid (a symbol for love in the form of a cherubic naked boy with wings and a bow and arrow)

scarlet letter (the letter A in red; Puritans required adulterers to wear it)

Derivation:

emblematic (serving as a visible symbol for something abstract)

emblematic (being or serving as an illustration of a type)

emblematical (serving as a visible symbol for something abstract)

 Context examples 

Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Well, this dead man had some Catholic emblem round his neck, and that, along with his colour, made me think he was from the South.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I consider a country-dance as an emblem of marriage.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She seemed the emblem of my past life; and here I was now to array myself to meet, the dread, but adored, type of my unknown future day.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

What the Admiralty was to me that day; what nonsense I made of our case in my mind, as I listened to it; how I saw DORA engraved upon the blade of the silver oar which they lay upon the table, as the emblem of that high jurisdiction; and how I felt when Mr. Spenlow went home without me (I had had an insane hope that he might take me back again), as if I were a mariner myself, and the ship to which I belonged had sailed away and left me on a desert island; I shall make no fruitless effort to describe.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

We could hear the click of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it down; coming close to the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks some of the sacred emblem which he had placed there.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Birds began singing in brake and copse: birds were faithful to their mates; birds were emblems of love.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a main gateway of lichen-studded stone, each side pillar surmounted by mouldering heraldic emblems, but besides this central carriage drive I observed several points where there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading through them.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring, would have been a meet emblem of my mind when I accused and menaced Mrs. Reed: the same ridge, black and blasted after the flames are dead, would have represented as meetly my subsequent condition, when half-an-hour's silence and reflection had shown me the madness of my conduct, and the dreariness of my hated and hating position.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)