What is "symbol"

Symbol \Sym"bol\ (s[i^]m"b[o^]l), n. [L. symbolus, symbolum, Gr. sy`mbolon a sign by which one knows or infers a thing, from symba`llein to throw or put together, to compare; sy`n with + ba`llein to throw: cf. F. symbole. Cf. Emblem, Parable.]

1. A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation; a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.

   A symbol is a sign included in the idea which it represents, e. g., an actual part chosen to represent the whole, or a lower form or species used as the representative of a higher in the same kind.
   --Coleridge.

2. (Math.) Any character used to represent a quantity, an operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.

   Note: In crystallography, the symbol of a plane is the numerical expression which defines its position relatively to the assumed axes.

3. (Theol.) An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.

4. [Gr. ? contributions.] That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. [Obs.]

   They do their work in the days of peace . . . and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.
   --Jer. Taylor.

5. Share; allotment. [Obs.]

   The persons who are to be judged . . . shall all appear to receive their symbol.
   --Jer. Taylor.

6. (Chem.) An abbreviation standing for the name of an element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium (Natrium), Fe for iron (Ferrum), Sn for tin (Stannum), Sb for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names and symbols under Element.

   Note: In pure and organic chemistry there are symbols not only for the elements, but also for their grouping in formulas, radicals, or residues, as evidenced by their composition, reactions, synthesis, etc. See the diagram of Benzene nucleus, under Benzene.

   Syn: Emblem; figure; type. See Emblem.

Symbol \Sym"bol\, v. t. To symbolize. [R.]
--Tennyson.

early 15c., "creed, summary, religious belief," from Late Latin symbolum "creed, token, mark," from Greek symbolon "token, watchword, sign by which one infers; ticket, a permit, license" (the word was applied c.250 by Cyprian of Carthage to the Apostles' Creed, on the notion of the "mark" that distinguishes Christians from pagans), literally "that which is thrown or cast together," from assimilated form of syn- "together" (see syn-) + bole "a throwing, a casting, the stroke of a missile, bolt, beam," from bol-, nominative stem of ballein "to throw" (see ballistics).\n

\nThe sense evolution in Greek is from "throwing things together" to "contrasting" to "comparing" to "token used in comparisons to determine if something is genuine." Hence, "outward sign" of something. The meaning "something which stands for something else" first recorded 1590 (in "Faerie Queene"). As a written character, 1610s.

n. 1 A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. 2 Any object, typically material, which is meant to represent another (usually abstract) even if there is no meaningful relationship. 3 (context linguistics English) A type of noun whereby the form refers to the same entity independently of the context; a symbol arbitrarily denotes a referent. See also icon and index. 4 A summary of a dogmatic statement of faith. 5 Visible traces or impressions, made using a writing device or tool, that are connected together and/or are slightly separated. Sometimes symbols represent objects or events that occupy space or things that are not physical and do not occupy space. 6 (context crystallography English) The numerical expression which defines a plane's position relative to the assumed axis. 7 That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. 8 Share; allotment. vb. To symbolize.

1. n. an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance

2. something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible; "the eagle is a symbol of the United States" [syn: symbolization, symbolisation, symbolic representation]

3. [also: symbolling, symbolled]

The Symbol is a choir in Romania that links to the great choir of the patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Its headquarters are in the basement or the patriarchal palace in the choir room named after the mentor of the choir Nicolae Lungu.

A symbol is something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity.

Symbol may also refer to:

A symbol in computer programming is a primitive datatype whose instances have a unique human-readable form. Symbols can be used as identifiers. In some programming languages, they are called atoms.

In the most trivial implementation, they are essentially named integers (e.g. the enumerated type in C).

Symbol is a studio album by Japanese electronica artist Susumu Yokota, released in 2005. This album is distinctive from others in his discography by being primarily composed of samples from classical orchestral pieces, such as Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals, as well as more modern compositions by John Cage and Meredith Monk.

Symbol is a TV series that aired on Disney Channel from 1984 to 1991.

Symbol is a pre-movie show Where Walt Disney himself would talk to animated characters about the movie that is about to be played, then when the conversation was over they would cut to a short film

Category:1980s American television series Category:1990s American television series Category:1984 American television series debuts Category:1991 American television series endings Category:Disney Channel shows

A symbol is a person or a concept that represents, stands for or suggests another idea, visual image, belief, action or material entity. Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas or visual images and are used to convey other ideas and beliefs. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a blue line might represent a river. Numerals are symbols for numbers. Alphabetic letters may be symbols for sounds. Personal names are symbols representing individuals. A red rose may symbolize love and compassion. The variable 'x', in a mathematical equation, may symbolize the position of a particle in space.

In cartography, an organized collection of symbols forms a legend for a map.

In chemistry, a symbol is a code for a chemical element. Chemical symbols are one to three letters long, and are written with only the first letter capitalized.

Chemical symbols often resemble classical Latin and Greek vocabulary. For some elements, this is because the material was known in ancient times, while for others, the name is a more recent invention. For example, "He" is the symbol for helium ( New Latin name, not known in ancient Roman times), "Pb" for lead (plumbum in Latin), and "Hg" for mercury (hydrargyrum in Greek). Some symbols come from other sources, like "W" for tungsten (Wolfram in German, not known in Roman times).

Temporary symbols assigned to newly or not-yet synthesized elements use 3-letter symbols based on their atomic numbers. For example, "Uno" was the temporary symbol for hassium which had the temporary name of unniloctium and "Uuo" is the symbol for ununoctium (temporary name) with the atomic number 118.

Chemical symbols may be modified by the use of prepended superscripts or subscripts to specify a particular isotope of an atom. Additionally, appended superscripts may be used to indicate the ionization or oxidation state of an element. They are widely used in chemistry and they have been officially chosen by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. There are also some historical symbols that are no longer officially used.

Attached subscripts or superscripts specifying a nucleotide or molecule have the following meanings and positions:

• The nucleon number ( mass number) is shown in the left superscript position (e.g., N). This number defines the specific isotope. Various letters, such as "m" and "f" may also be used here to indicate a nuclear isomer (e.g., Tc). Alternately, the number here can represent a specific spin state (e.g., O). These details can be omitted if not relevant in a certain context.
• The proton number ( atomic number) may be indicated in the left subscript position (e.g., Gd). The atomic number is redundant to the chemical element, but is sometimes used to emphasize the change of numbers of nucleons in a nuclear reaction.
• If necessary, a state of ionization or an excited state may be indicated in the right superscript position (e.g., state of ionization Ca).
• The number of atoms of an element in a molecule or chemical compound is shown in the right subscript position (e.g., N or FeO). Often omitted if the value is one.
• A radical is indicated by a dot on the right side (e.g., Cl for a neutral chlorine atom). This is often omitted unless relevant to a certain context because it is already knowable from the charge and atomic number information values.

In Chinese, each chemical element has a dedicated character, usually created for the purpose (see Chemical elements in East Asian languages). However, Latin symbols are also used, especially in formulas.

A list of current, dated, as well as proposed and historical signs and symbols is included here with its signification. Also given is each element's atomic number, atomic weight or the atomic mass of the most stable isotope, group and period numbers on the periodic table, and etymology of the symbol.

Symbol is a 2009 Japanese film directed by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto. It was nominated for the Asian Film Awards in the categories of Best Actor and Best Visual Effects. It has not received a U.S. release.

The film was greeted negatively by Japanese audiences; however, it received a surprisingly warmer reaction in the West, despite not being commercialized outside Japan.

Symbol from Greek language sunbolon that means a seal, signet ring, legal bond or warrant. From sunballein, to throw together, compare. A name used beginning in the fourth or fifth century, in the East and West, for the declaratory creeds, especially the Apostles' Creed, perhaps suggesting the pact made between the baptismal candidate and God, but more probably deriving from the baptismal confession of faith as a sign and symbol of belief in the Triune God.

Symbol is one of the four standard fonts available on all PostScript-based printers, starting with Apple's original LaserWriter (1985). It contains a complete unaccented Greek alphabet (upper and lower case) and a selection of commonly used mathematical symbols. Insofar as it fits into any standard classification, it is a serif font designed in the style of Times Roman.

Due to its non-standard character set, lack of diacritical characters, and type design inappropriate for continuous text, Symbol cannot easily be used for setting Greek language text, though it has been used for that purpose in the absence of proper Greek fonts. Its primary purpose is to typeset mathematical expressions.

A logical symbol is a fundamental concept in logic, tokens of which may be marks or a configuration of marks which form a particular pattern. Although the term "symbol" in common use refers at some times to the idea being symbolized, and at other times to the marks on a piece of paper or chalkboard which are being used to express that idea; in the formal languages studied in mathematics and logic, the term "symbol" refers to the idea, and the marks are considered to be a token instance of the symbol. In logic, symbols build literal utility to illustrate ideas.

Symbols of a formal language need not be symbols of anything. For instance there are logical constants which do not refer to any idea, but rather serve as a form of punctuation in the language (e.g. parentheses). Symbols of a formal language must be capable of being specified without any reference to any interpretation of them.

A symbol or string of symbols may comprise a well-formed formula if it is consistent with the formation rules of the language.

In a formal system a symbol may be used as a token in formal operations. The set of formal symbols in a formal language is referred to as an alphabet (hence each symbol may be referred to as a "letter")

A formal symbol as used in first-order logic may be a variable (member from a universe of discourse), a constant, a function (mapping to another member of universe) or a predicate (mapping to T/F).

Formal symbols are usually thought of as purely syntactic structures, composed into larger structures using a formal grammar, though sometimes they may be associated with an interpretation or model (a formal semantics).

In mathematics, symbol may refer to:

• Mathematical symbol in mathematical notation
• Symbol of a differential operator
• Symbol (formal) symbols from the alphabet of a formal language
• Symbol ring, a construction of the Witt ring of a number field
• A term in the Szegő limit theorems

Various specific mathematical functions are referred to as "symbols":

• Christoffel symbols in differential geometry
• Néron symbol in arithmetic geometry
• Pochhammer symbol in combinatorial analysis

In number theory:

• Symbol (number theory)
• Artin symbol
• Contou-Carrère symbol
• Galois symbol
• Hilbert symbol
• Jacobi symbol
• Kronecker symbol
• Legendre symbol
• Mennicke symbol
• Norm residue symbol
• Power residue symbol
• Steinberg symbol

In number theory, a symbol is any of many different generalizations of the Legendre symbol. This article describes the relations between these various generalizations.

The symbols below are arranged roughly in order of the date they were introduced, which is usually (but not always) in order of increasing generality.

• Legendre symbol $\left(\frac{a}{p}\right)$ defined for p a prime, a an integer, and takes values 0, 1, or −1.
• Jacobi symbol $\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)$ defined for b a positive odd integer, a an integer, and takes values 0, 1, or −1. An extension of the Legendre symbol to more general values of n.
• Kronecker symbol $\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)$ defined for b any integer, a an integer, and takes values 0, 1, or −1. An extension of the Jacobi and Legendre symbols to more general values of b.
• Power residue symbol $\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)=\left(\frac{a}{b}\right)_m$ is defined for a in some global field containing the mth roots of 1 ( for some m), b a fractional ideal of K built from prime ideals coprime to m. The symbol takes values in the m roots of 1. When m = 2 and the global field is the rationals this is more or less the same as the Jacobi symbol.
• Hilbert symbol The local Hilbert symbol (a,b) = is defined for a and b in some local field containing the m roots of 1 (for some m) and takes values in the m roots of 1. The power residue symbol can be written in terms of the Hilbert symbol. The global Hilbert symbol $(a,b)_p=\left(\frac{a,b}{p}\right)=\left(\frac{a,b}{p}\right)_m$ is defined for a and b in some global field K, for p a finite or infinite place of K, and is equal to the local Hilbert symbol in the completion of K at the place p.
• Artin symbol The local Artin symbol or norm residue symbol $\theta_{L/K}(\alpha) = (\alpha,L/K) = \left(\frac{L/K}{\alpha}\right)$ is defined for L a finite extension of the local field K, α an element of K, and takes values in the abelianization of the Galois group Gal(L/K). The global Artin symbol $\psi_{L/K}(\alpha) = (\alpha,L/K) = \left(\frac{L/K}{\alpha}\right)=((L/K)/\alpha)$ is defined for α in a ray class group or idele (class) group of a global field K, and takes values in the abelianization of Gal(L/K) for L an abelian extension of K. When α is in the idele group the symbol is sometimes called a Chevalley symbol or Artin–Chevalley symbol. The local Hilbert symbol of K can be written in terms of the Artin symbol for Kummer extensions L/K, where the roots of unity can be identified with elements of the Galois group.
• The Frobenius symbol $[(L/K)/P]=\left[\frac{L/K}{P}\right]$ is the same as the Frobenius element of the prime P of the Galois extension L of K.
• "Chevalley symbol" has several slightly different meanings. It is sometimes used for the Artin symbol for ideles. A variation of this is the Chevalley symbol $\left(\frac{a,\chi}{p}\right)$ for p a prime ideal of K, a an element of K, and χ a homomorphism of the Galois group of K to R/Z. The value of the symbol is then the value of the character χ on the usual Artin symbol.
• Norm residue symbol This name is for several different closely related symbols, such as the Artin symbol or the Hilbert symbol or Hasse's norm residue symbol. The Hasse norm residue symbol $((\alpha,L/K)/p)=\left(\frac{\alpha,L/K}{p}\right)$ is defined if p is a place of K and α an element of K. It is essentially the same as the local Artin symbol for the localization of K at p. The Hilbert symbol is a special case of it in the case of Kummer extensions.
• Steinberg symbol (a,b). This is a generalization of the local Hilbert symbol to arbitrary fields F. The numbers a and b are elements of F, and the symbol (a,b) takes values in the second K-group of F.
• Galois symbol A sort of generalization of the Steinberg symbol to higher algebraic K-theory. It takes a Milnor K-group to an etale cohomology group.