# icon

Pronunciation: say "EYE-kon" US /ˈaɪ.kɑn/, UK /ˈaɪ.kɒn/

## Noun

1. A small graphic symbol on a screen that represents a program, file, or function.
   - Simple: A small picture on a screen that you tap or click to open a program or file.
   - _She clicked the printer icon to send the document._
   - _The desktop was cluttered with dozens of icons._
2. A person or thing regarded as the finest or most representative example of a particular profession or pursuit.
   - Simple: A famous person or thing seen as the best example of something, like a job or a sport.
   - _He remains an icon of jazz piano decades after his death._
   - _The building grew into a national icon of modern architecture._
3. An image, symbol, portrait, or other representation venerated as an object of religious devotion.
   - Simple: A holy picture or image that people honor or pray to.
   - _Pilgrims knelt before the gilded icon for hours._
   - _The family kept a small icon on the wall for daily prayer._
4. A painted religious image, frequently on wood panels, whose subject is a saint or an event from Scripture.
   - Simple: A religious painting of a saint or a Bible scene, often made on wood.
   - _The monastery's oldest icon depicts the Nativity._
   - _Restorers carefully cleaned the cracked surface of the icon._
5. A small image used to represent a user online, such as an avatar or profile picture. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A small picture that stands for you online, like a profile photo.
   - _He updated his icon after the holidays._
   - _Her forum icon is a cartoon cat._
6. A sign, word, or character whose form resembles and is shaped by the thing it stands for, as onomatopoeic words are.
   - Simple: A sign or word that looks or sounds like the thing it stands for.
   - _In Peirce's framework, a portrait functions as an icon of the person it depicts._
   - _Onomatopoeic words like "splash" count as icons because their sound mirrors their meaning._

## Origin

From Latin "icon," from Ancient Greek "eikon" ("likeness, image, portrait"). The Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833, and the computing sense was first recorded in 1982.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/icon (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).