What is "icon"

icon \i"con\ ([imac]"k[o^]n), n. [Also spelled ikon.] [L., fr. Gr. e'ikw`n.]

1. An image or representation; a portrait or pretended portrait.

   Netherlands whose names and icons are published.
   --Hakewill.

2. (Gr. Ch.) A sacred picture representing the Virgin Mary, Christ, a saint, or a martyr, and having the same function as an image of such a person in the Latin Church. The term is used especially for a highly stylized and conventionalized representation of a holy person, rich in symbolism and used in devotional services in many of the eastern Orthodox churches, especially the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches.

3. a symbol, especially a symbol whose form suggests its meaning or the object it represents.

4. (Computers) a graphical symbol for a data object whose form suggests the nature or function of the object; especially, such a symbol as viewed on the computer screen.

   Note: In a graphical user interface, pointing to and clicking on an icon may cause any of several types of actions, such as opening a file or executing a program, depending on how the icon properties are defined.

5. any object of uncritical devotion.

   The former congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is still an icon to many party members.
   --The New York Times, April 16, 1998

6. an outstanding example of something which has come to represent the class of things to which it belongs; a paragon; used of persons as well as objects.

also ikon, 1570s, "image, figure, representation," from Late Latin icon, from Greek eikon "likeness, image, portrait," related to eikenai "be like, look like," of unknown origin. Eastern Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded 1982.

n. 1 An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion. 2 A religious painting, often done on wooden panels. 3 A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing. 4 A small picture which represents something (such as an icon on a computer screen which when clicked performs some function.) 5 (context linguistics English) A type of noun whereby the form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons. See also (term: symbol) and (term: index). 6 Pictual representations of files, programs and folders on a computer.

1. n. (computer science) a graphic symbol (usually a simple picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data file or a concept in a graphical user interface

2. a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface; "they showed us the pictures of their wedding"; "a movie is a series of images projected so rapidly that the eye integrates them" [syn: picture, image, ikon]

3. a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden panel; venerated in the Eastern Church [syn: ikon]

Icon is a very high-level programming language featuring goal directed execution and many facilities for managing strings and textual patterns. It is related to SNOBOL and SL5, string processing languages. Icon is not object-oriented, but an object-oriented extension called Idol was developed in 1996 which eventually became Unicon.

An icon (from Greek eikōn "image") is typically a painting depicting Christ, Mary, saints and/or angels, which is venerated among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and in certain Catholic Churches. Though especially associated with "portrait" style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term is also used for most religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity, including narrative secenes.

Icons may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Icons are often illuminated with a candle or jar of oil with a wick. (Beeswax for candles and olive oil for oil lamps are preferred because they burn very cleanly, although other materials are sometimes used.) The illumination of religious images with lamps or candles is an ancient practice pre-dating Christianity.

Although common in translated works from Greek or Russian, the English term " iconography" does not mean "the art of icon painting", and "iconographer" does not mean an artist of icons, which are painted or carved, not "written", as they are in those languages.

Comparable images from Western Christianity are generally not described as "icons", although "iconic" may be used to describe a static style of devotional image.

In computing, an icon is a pictogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system or mobile device. The icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol of a software tool, function, or a data file, accessible on the system and is more like a traffic sign than a detailed illustration of the actual entity it represents. It can serve as an electronic hyperlink or file shortcut to access the program or data. The user can activate an icon using a mouse, pointer, finger, or recently voice commands. Their placement on the screen, also in relation to other icons, may provide further information to the user about their usage. In activating an icon, the user can move directly into and out of the identified function without knowing anything further about the location or requirements of the file or code.

Icons as parts of the graphical user interface of the computer system, in conjunction with windows, menus and a pointing device (mouse), belong to the much larger topic of the history of the graphical user interface that has largely supplanted the text-based interface for casual use.

Icon is a superhero in the comic books distributed by DC Comics.

An icon, from the Greek for image, is a religious painting in the tradition of Eastern Christianity.

Icon may also refer to:

Icon is an American heavy metal/ glam metal band that formed in 1979, disbanding in 1990. Icon has fully reformed as of 2008, currently consisting of three-fifths of the classic lineup: Dan Wexler (guitar), Stephen Clifford (lead vocals), and John Aquilino (guitar), along with Dave Henzerling (bass) and Gary Bruzzese (drums).

Icon is a thriller novel by British author Frederick Forsyth. Its plot centres on the politics of the Russian Federation in 1999, with an extremist party close to seizing power. Published by Bantam Books in September 1997, (ISBN 978-0-553-57460-9), Icon became a New York Times Bestseller.

Icon is the fourth studio album recorded by British doom metal/gothic band Paradise Lost in 1993. This marked the end of their early death/doom sound. It was also the last album to feature Matthew Archer on drums.

Icon is a studio album recorded and released by Asia band members John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes in 2005. It is the first in the Icon franchise (though they previously recorded in 2002 the album Wetton Downes, a precursor to the Icon series).

See also Icon II: Rubicon(2006). The third Icon album is Icon 3 (2009).

Icon (or Frederick Forsyth's Icon) is a Hallmark Channel original television film directed by Charles Martin Smith and based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth. The film premiered on the network May 30, 2005. It is set in the period 1985 to 1999.

Icon was the self-titled debut album by the heavy metal band Icon. It included their biggest metal radio hit song, "On Your Feet".

Icon is the fifth studio album by French death metal band Benighted. The album was released in October 29, 2007. The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered at Kohlekeller Studios, Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany. The artwork was created by Phlegeton.

ICON is an annual science fiction convention held in the Cedar Rapids/ Iowa City area of Iowa since 1975, usually in late October or early November, under the auspices of the Mindbridge Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation also responsible for AnimeIowa and Gamicon. The organization was a branching off of the Science Fiction League of Iowa Students, which was founded by author Joe Haldeman. It is the oldest and largest science fiction convention in Iowa.

Icon is a compilation album from the American grunge band Nirvana. It was released on August 31, 2010.

Icon magazine was a bi-monthly magazine set up in 2003 by ex-professional footballers Tim Sherwood and Jamie Redknapp as well as Redknapp's wife Louise. The magazine was the first venture of Redknapp Publications and its readership was exclusive as it was not sold in shops and it was aimed at a celebrity readership. Originally intended to be just for professional footballers, it branched out to many other international sports people as well as television personalities, actors and selected first class airport lounges. Official readership stood around 25,000.

The magazine had four sections: StyleIcon, FashionIcon, LifestyleIcon and TravelIcon. Jamie conducted interviews with "A-list" sports stars for the cover articles. The magazine had a cover price of £6 but celebrity subscribers did not officially have to pay for it. Past individual issues could be bought for £15 on the official website.

In March 2008 it was revealed in The Sun newspaper that the magazine had hit financial difficulties and was losing £85,000 a year. A former worker for the magazine said, "They are so busy with their celebrity lives and their children, they haven’t got time to do everything they want to do at Icon."

In August 2008, two pioneers of men's magazines in the UK and USA, Andy Clerkson and Ed Needham, took on the editorial direction of the magazine. Clerkson was General Manager of Maxim USA (2001–2004) and editorial director of Dennis Publishing (2004–2006). Between 1996 and 2006, Needham was the editor of FHM in the UK and USA, managing editor of Rolling Stone, and editor-in-chief of Maxim USA. Clerkson and Needham's publishing company, Grand Parade produced Icon under contract from 2008 to 2010.

Icon is an album released on March 1, 2011, from country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus. The album was released via Universal Music Group Nashville's Mercury Nashville division. The album features 12 songs that were featured on Cyrus' first three studio albums.

Icon is a compilation album by American country music artist Josh Turner. It was released on March 22, 2011. It is part of a series of similar Icon albums released by Universal Music Enterprises. The album includes Turner's four number one singles ("Your Man," "Would You Go with Me," "Why Don't We Just Dance" and "All Over Me") as well as album tracks "As Fast as I Could" and "Backwoods Boy."

Icon is the fourth compilation album by American rock band Limp Bizkit. Released in 2011, it is a retrospective compiling material from the band's albums Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, Significant Other, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, Results May Vary and The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1).

Icon is the second greatest hits compilation album by American rapper Ja Rule, released on January 10, 2012 through Motown Records.

Icon is a compilation album by Joe Cocker, released in 2011 (see 2011 in music).

Icon is a compilation album by British multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. It was released on 31 May 2012 in Europe. It is part of a series of similar Icon albums released by Universal Music Enterprises.

The album includes selections from Oldfield's recorded output with Mercury Records. Pieces from earlier in Oldfield's career were originally released on Virgin Records but have been subsequently moved to Mercury/ Universal.

The album was released during the same year as another Mike Oldfield compilation from Universal, Two Sides.

Icon is a greatest hits album by American country musician Vince Gill. It was released on August 31, 2010 by MCA Nashville, and contains select highlight songs from his career.

Icon is a compilation album by British rock group Queen, released on 11 June 2013 by Hollywood Records. The album was only released in the United States and Canada as a limited edition release.

Icon is the sixth studio album by Norwegian urban duo Madcon. It was released on 27 September 2013. The album debuted at number one on the Norwegian Albums Chart.

Icon is the seventh album from Sheila E, released on Mooscious Records.

ICON is a compilation album by the Canadian-Ukrainian singer-songwriter Luba. It is the first release by Luba for 14 years. ICON is a compilation of previously released songs, as well as a new track, Heaven, which was presented on Luba's MySpace around 2007. The album has been released by Universal Music Canada.

Icon magazine is a British architecture and design magazine established in 2003 by Marcus Fairs.

In 2015, the magazine marked its 150th issue with a redesign into three sections: Lifestyle, Architecture and Objects.

Icon is a greatest hits album by Megadeth, released in 2013 by Capitol Records. It is part of the Icon album series by Universal Music Enterprises, which absorbed Capitol in 2013.

Icon (album series) is a series of compilation albums released by Universal Music Enterprises, a division of Universal Music Group, the largest music publisher in the world. The series serves as a successor to Universal's 20th Century Masters, The Defininitive Collection, and Gold series.

The series began in 2010. Among the artists whose recordings have been included are Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Rogers Joe Cocker, Michael Jackson, and Nirvana and Queen. It also includes artists by the former EMI Records and Capitol Records labels once they were absorbed by UMG in 2013.