n.
Variant: also ikon
Pronunciation: ' ī - ˌ kän
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from Greek eik ō n, from eikenai to resemble
Date: 1572
1 : a usually pictorial representation : IMAGE
2 [Late Greek eik ō n, from Greek] : a conventional religious image typically painted on a small wooden panel and used in the devotions of Eastern Christians
3 : an object of uncritical devotion : IDOL
4 : EMBLEM , SYMBOL <the house became an icon of 1960's residential architecture ― Paul Goldberger>
5 a : a sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning b : a graphic symbol on a computer display screen that usually suggests the type of object represented or the purpose of an available function
– icon · ic \ ī - ' kä-nik \ adjective
– icon · i · cal · ly \ -ni-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb