- published: 29 Mar 2014
- views: 134472
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.
The word derives from the Greek symbolon (σύμβολον) meaning token or watchword. It is an amalgam of syn- "together" + bole "a throwing, a casting, the stroke of a missile, bolt, beam." The 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" was first recorded in 1590, in Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene.
The night is a symbol, senses' inspiration
He's always creeping in the gloom
While I am standing on His way
He approaches slowly and creeps to me
I recognize Him - this face and this smile
He wants to talk to me always at night
During a day I don't feel Him, can't find
The night is a symbol, senses' inspiration
He's always creeping in the gloom
While I am standing on His way
As the light vanish, he creeps seeking me
I'm ready, I'll talk, so night will pass quickly
Shivering voice trickle out of His lips
Bares my mind and extend morbid dreams
The night is a symbol, senses' inspiration
He is the child of the dark
I don't want to shelter Him
The night is a symbol, senses' inspiration
He is the child of the dark