SYMBOLIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does symbolize mean? 

• SYMBOLIZE (verb)
  The verb SYMBOLIZE has 2 senses:

1. express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol

2. represent or identify by using a symbol; use symbols

  Familiarity information: SYMBOLIZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYMBOLIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they symbolize    ... he / she / it symbolizes   
Past simple: symbolized   
Past participle: symbolized   
-ing form: symbolizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

represent; stand for; symbolise; symbolize; typify

Context example:

What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize?

Hypernyms (to "symbolize" is one way to...):

intend; mean (mean or intend to express or convey)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "symbolize"):

be; embody; personify (represent, as of a character on stage)

epitomise; epitomize; typify (embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

symbol (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)

symbol (an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance)

symbolization (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)

symbolizer (someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols)

symbolizing (the act of representing something with a symbol)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Represent or identify by using a symbol; use symbols

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

symbolise; symbolize

Context example:

These painters believed that artists should symbolize

Hypernyms (to "symbolize" is one way to...):

represent (describe or present, usually with respect to a particular quality)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

symbolization (the use of symbols to convey meaning)

 Context examples 

A constant symbolizing the ratio of a dissolved substance in a two-phase system.

(Partition Coefficient, NCI Thesaurus)

An arithmetic operation by which the product of two numbers is computed, symbolized by x or *.

(Multiplication, NCI Thesaurus)

Ten years later, he led the Soviet part of the Apollo–Soyuz mission symbolizing that the Space Race was over.

(Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov dies at age 85, Wikinews)