Standard Lemma guide

symbolism

noun · 6 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.

  • /ˈsɪmbəˌlɪzəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 M B AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Representation of a concept through symbols or underlying meanings of objects or qualities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An art movement originating in late 19th-century France and Belgium, seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: art, arts

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A combining together of parts or ingredients.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: symbolization, symbolisation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: practice, pattern

5

noun

Meaning 5

a system of symbols and symbolic representations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: symbol

6

noun

Meaning 6

an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: artistic movement, art movement

History

Etymology

From symbol + -ism, sense 2 being a semantic loan from French symbolisme.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: رَمْزِيَّة (ramziyya) — representation of a concept
  • Asturian: simbolismu — representation of a concept
  • Belarusian: сімвалі́зм (simvalízm) — representation of a concept
  • Belarusian: сімво́ліка (simvólika) — representation of a concept
  • Catalan: simbolisme — representation of a concept
  • Chinese Mandarin: 象徵主義 /象征主义 (xiàngzhēngzhǔyì) — representation of a concept
  • Dutch: symbolisme — representation of a concept
  • Esperanto: simboleco — representation of a concept
  • French: symbolisme — representation of a concept
  • Galician: simbolismo — representation of a concept
  • Georgian: სიმბოლიზმი (simbolizmi) — representation of a concept
  • German: Symbolik — representation of a concept
  • Greek: συμβολισμός (symvolismós) — representation of a concept
  • Ido: simbolismo — representation of a concept
  • Irish: siombalachas — representation of a concept
  • Italian: simbolismo — representation of a concept
  • Japanese: 象徴主義 (shōchōshugi) — representation of a concept
  • Kazakh: символизм (simvolizm) — representation of a concept
  • Kazakh: бейнешілік (beineşılık) — representation of a concept
  • Korean: 상징주의 (sangjingjuui) — representation of a concept
  • Latin: symbolismus — representation of a concept
  • Latvian: simbolisms — representation of a concept
  • Norwegian Bokmål: symbolisme — representation of a concept
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: symbolisme — representation of a concept
  • Persian: نمادگرایی — representation of a concept
  • Polish: symbolizm — representation of a concept
  • Polish: symbolika — representation of a concept
  • Portuguese: simbolismo — representation of a concept
  • Punjabi: ਚਿੰਨ੍ਹਵਾਦ (cinnhvād) — representation of a concept
  • Russian: символи́зм (simvolízm) — representation of a concept
  • Russian: симво́лика (simvólika) — representation of a concept
  • Spanish: simbolismo — representation of a concept
  • Swedish: symbolik — representation of a concept
  • Tamil: குறியீட்டியம் (kuṟiyīṭṭiyam) — representation of a concept
  • Thai: ลัทธิสัญลักษณ์นิยม — representation of a concept
  • Turkish: sembolizm — representation of a concept
  • Turkish: simgecilik — representation of a concept
  • Ukrainian: символі́зм (symvolízm) — representation of a concept
  • Ukrainian: симво́ліка (symvólika) — representation of a concept
  • Vietnamese: thơ tượng trưng — representation of a concept
Real reading context

symbolism in complete knowledge articles