noun Etymology: emotion + icon Date: 1987 a group of keyboard characters (as :-)) that typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used especially in computerized communications (as e-mail)
EMOTICON
Meaning of EMOTICON in English
Merriam Webster. Explanatory English dictionary Merriam Webster. Толковый словарь английского языка Мерриам-Уэбстер. 2012