Icon Meaning
/ˈaɪ.kɒn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
nounA type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
Sentence Examples
Double-click on the icon.
It's troublesome that Internet Explorer's stop icon looks like a shiitake mushroom.
Click on the printer icon with the mouse.
CEFR Practice Quiz
On the computer desktop, you can click the email ____ to open your inbox.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Click on the small printer ____ located in the top corner of the screen to start printing your document.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Last week the Archdiocese sent emmissaries to investigate the icon and decided that the tears were not a hoax, Father Koufos said."
— 1986 December 22, “‘Weeping Virgin’ Icon Draws Throngs To Chicago”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2023:
"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."
— 1981 May 31, Robert Palmer, “Two Icons of Rock Music”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2023:
"Barbie is viewed as an icon of American culture in her new biography, Barbie: Her Life and Times (Crown, $25), written by Billy Boy, a clothing and jewelry designer in Paris."
— 1987 December 23, “Barbie: Doll, Icon Or Sexist Symbol?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2023:
"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."
— 1985 September 15, Erik Snadberg-Diment, “Number Crunching on the Macintosh”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2023:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
On the computer desktop, you can click the email ____ to open your inbox.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Click on the small printer ____ located in the top corner of the screen to start printing your document.