Standard Lemma guide

emblem

noun · verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɛmbləm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 M B L AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A representative symbol, such as a trademark, a badge or logo.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The medical trucks were emblazoned with the emblem of the Red Cross.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: symbol, token, ensign

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something that represents a larger whole.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The rampant poverty in the ethnic slums was just an emblem of the group's disenfranchisement by the society as a whole.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Inlay; inlaid or mosaic work; something ornamental inserted in a surface.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A picture accompanied with a motto, a set of verses, etc. intended as a moral lesson or meditation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A picture placed on the field of the escutcheon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, heraldry, hobbies, lifestyle, monarchy, nobility, politics

Examples

  • Near-synonym: charge

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: charge

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bearing

6

verb

Meaning 6

To symbolize.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: design, pattern, figure

Narrower terms: colophon, colors, colours, crest, Cross, device, flag, heraldry, skull and crossbones, totem, totem pole

8

noun

Meaning 8

a visible symbol representing an abstract idea

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: allegory

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: symbol, symbolization, symbolisation, symbolic representation

Narrower terms: scarlet letter, cupid, donkey, dove, eagle, elephant, fasces, national flag, ensign, hammer and sickle, red flag, Star of David, Shield of David, Magen David, Mogen David, Solomon's seal, badge, Agnus Dei, Paschal Lamb, maple-leaf, medallion, spread eagle, swastika, Hakenkreuz

History

Etymology

From Old French embleme, from Latin emblēma (“raised ornaments on vessels, tessellated work, mosaic”), from Ancient Greek ἔμβλημα (émblēma, “an insertion”), from ἐμβάλλειν (embállein, “to put in, to lay on”). Doublet of emblema.

Across languages

Translations

105 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abkhaz: адырга (adərga) — representative symbol
  • Afrikaans: embleem — representative symbol
  • Albanian: simbol — representative symbol
  • Albanian: stemë — representative symbol
  • Arabic: شِعَار (šiʕār) — representative symbol
  • Arabic: رَمْز (ramz) — representative symbol
  • Armenian: խորհրդանիշ (xorhrdaniš) — representative symbol
  • Azerbaijani: emblem — representative symbol
  • Azerbaijani: nişan — representative symbol
  • Azerbaijani: rəmz — representative symbol
  • Basque: ikur — representative symbol
  • Belarusian: эмбле́ма (embljéma) — representative symbol
  • Bulgarian: ембле́ма (embléma) — representative symbol
  • Burmese: အမှတ်တံဆိပ် (a.hmattamhcip) — representative symbol
  • Catalan: emblema — representative symbol
  • Chinese Mandarin: 象徵 /象征 (xiàngzhēng) — representative symbol
  • Chinese Mandarin: 象徵性 /象征性 (xiàngzhēngxìng) — representative symbol
  • Czech: emblém — representative symbol
  • Czech: znak — representative symbol
  • Danish: emblem — representative symbol
  • Dutch: embleem — representative symbol
  • Esperanto: emblemo — representative symbol
  • Estonian: embleem — representative symbol
  • Estonian: võrdkuju — representative symbol
  • Finnish: tunnus — representative symbol
  • Finnish: embleemi — representative symbol
  • French: emblème — representative symbol
  • Galician: emblema — representative symbol
  • Georgian: ემბლემა (emblema) — representative symbol
  • Georgian: სიმბოლო (simbolo) — representative symbol
  • German: Emblem — representative symbol
  • Greek: έμβλημα (émvlima) — representative symbol
  • Hebrew: סִימָן (simán) — representative symbol
  • Hindi: प्रतीक (pratīk) — representative symbol
  • Hindi: चिह्न (cihna) — representative symbol
  • Hindi: चिन्ह (cinha) — representative symbol
  • Hungarian: embléma — representative symbol
  • Hungarian: jelkép — representative symbol
  • Icelandic: tákn — representative symbol
  • Ido: emblemo — representative symbol
  • Indonesian: lambang — representative symbol
  • Italian: emblema — representative symbol
  • Italian: raffigurazione — representative symbol
  • Italian: simbolo — representative symbol
  • Japanese: 表号 (hyōgō) — representative symbol
  • Japanese: エンブレム (enburemu) — representative symbol
  • Japanese: 象徴 (shōchō) — representative symbol
  • Kazakh: эмблема (émblema) — representative symbol
  • Kazakh: танымбелгі (tanymbelgı) — representative symbol
  • Korean: 상징 (sangjing) — representative symbol
  • Korean: 엠블럼 (embeulleom) — representative symbol
  • Kyrgyz: эмблема (emblema) — representative symbol
  • Kyrgyz: белги (belgi) — representative symbol
  • Lao: ເຄື່ອງຫມາຍ (khư̄ang māi) — representative symbol
  • Lao: ສັນຍາລັກ (san nyā lak) — representative symbol
  • Latin: insigne — representative symbol
  • Latvian: emblēma — representative symbol
  • Lithuanian: emblema — representative symbol
  • Macedonian: амблем (amblem) — representative symbol
  • Malay: lambang — representative symbol
  • Mongolian: эмблем (emblem) — representative symbol
  • Mongolian: сүлд тэмдэг (süld temdeg) — representative symbol
  • Norwegian Bokmål: emblem — representative symbol
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: emblem — representative symbol
  • Persian: نماد (namâd) — representative symbol
  • Persian: نشان (nešân) — representative symbol
  • Persian: علامت ('alâmat) — representative symbol
  • Polish: godło — representative symbol
  • Polish: emblemat — representative symbol
  • Portuguese: emblema — representative symbol
  • Romanian: emblemă — representative symbol
  • Russian: эмбле́ма (embléma) — representative symbol
  • Serbo-Croatian: а̀мбле̄м — representative symbol
  • Serbo-Croatian: àmblēm — representative symbol
  • Slovak: znak — representative symbol
  • Slovak: odznak — representative symbol
  • Slovene: emblem — representative symbol
  • Slovene: znak — representative symbol
  • Slovene: simbol — representative symbol
  • Spanish: emblema — representative symbol
  • Swedish: emblem — representative symbol
  • Tagalog: sagisag — representative symbol
  • Tagalog: simbulo — representative symbol
  • Tajik: нишона (nišona) — representative symbol
  • Tajik: нишон (nišon) — representative symbol
  • Tajik: аломат (alomat) — representative symbol
  • Tajik: тамға (tamġa) — representative symbol
  • Thai: เครื่องหมาย (krʉ̂ʉang-mǎai) — representative symbol
  • Thai: สัญลักษณ์ (sǎn-yá-lák) — representative symbol
  • Turkish: belirtke — representative symbol
  • Turkish: amblem — representative symbol
  • Turkmen: emblema — representative symbol
  • Turkmen: nyşan — representative symbol
  • Ukrainian: ембле́ма (embléma) — representative symbol
  • Urdu: چنه (cinh) — representative symbol
  • Urdu: علامت ('alāmat) — representative symbol
  • Uzbek: emblema — representative symbol
  • Uzbek: ramz — representative symbol
  • Uzbek: belgi — representative symbol
  • Uzbek: nishon — representative symbol
  • Vietnamese: biểu tượng — representative symbol
  • Finnish: tunnuskuva — representation of a larger whole
  • Finnish: vertauskuva — representation of a larger whole
  • Māori: amorangi — representation of a larger whole
  • Māori: tohu — representation of a larger whole
Real reading context

emblem in complete knowledge articles