■ noun
1》 a mark or character used as a conventional representation of something, e.g. a letter standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation.
2》 a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
■ verb ( ~s , ~ling , ~led ; US ~s , ~ing , ~ed ) archaic ~ize.
Origin
ME (denoting the Apostles' Creed): from L. ~um '~, creed (as the mark of a Christian)', from Gk sumbolon 'mark, token', from sun- 'with' + ballein 'to throw'.