[em.blem] n [ME, fr. L emblema inlaid work, fr. Gk emblemat-, emblema, fr. emballein to insert, fr. en- + ballein to throw--more at devil] (15c) 1: a picture with a motto or set of verses intended as a moral lesson
2: an object or the figure of an object symbolizing and suggesting another object or an idea 3 a: a symbolic object used as a heraldic device b: a device, symbol, or figure adopted and used as an identifying mark
[2]emblem vt (1584): emblematize