GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   icon (īˈkŏn), n. [Also spelled ikon.] [L., fr. Gr. εἰκών.]
   1. An image or representation; a portrait or pretended portrait.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   Netherlands whose names and icons are published. Hakewill.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   2. (Gr. Ch.) A sacred picture representing the Virgin Mary, Christ, a saint, or a martyr, and having the same function as an image of such a person in the Latin Church.  The term is used especially for a highly stylized and conventionalized representation of a holy person, rich in symbolism and used in devotional services in many of the eastern Orthodox churches, especially the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches.
   
   [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
   
   
   3. a symbol, especially a symbol whose form suggests its meaning or the object it represents.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   4. (Computers) a graphical symbol for a data object whose form suggests the nature or function of the object; especially, such a symbol as viewed on the computer screen. In a graphical user interface, pointing to and clicking on an icon may cause any of several types of actions, such as opening a file or executing a program, depending on how the icon properties are defined.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   5. any object of uncritical devotion.
   
   [PJC]
   
   The former congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is still an icon to many party members. The New York Times, April 16, 1998
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   6. an outstanding example of something which has come to represent the class of things to which it belongs; a paragon; used of persons as well as objects.
   
   [PJC]