transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈaɪkɔn ]
noun (Science and Technology) In computing jargon, a small symbolic picture on a computer screen, especially one that represents an option or function that can be selected by moving the pointer and clicking (see click) on the icon. Etymology: A specialization of sense: in its original sense an icon is any representation or picture of something (from Greek eikon 'likeness')--probably the best known examples are the religious pictures used in the Eastern Orthodox churches. History and Usage: The icon first started to appear widely in the early eighties, when computer manufacturers were trying to make computer screens more user-friendly to maximize on the rapid growth of the personal-computer market. The first icons typically allowed the computer screen to appear like a familiar desk-top, with the various files and tools available set out upon it in the form of small symbols (for example, a pile of index cards bearing a filename for each of the files which could be opened, a pencil or paintbrush for a program which could be used to 'paint' on the screen, etc.). The processes of computing were thus made to appear as similar as possible to the physical use of files, pencils, etc. and the need to use an unfamiliar command language was minimized. As the use of windows (see window°) developed during the eighties, whole windows of text could be 'shrunk' to the size of an icon so as to make room on the screen for other windows: the verb iconify and the adjective iconified were derived from icon to refer to this facility. In the late eighties, a series of sound equivalents for the icon was tried, with different audio messages representing different functions and operations. This concept was punningly named the earcon (reinterpreting icon as eye-con). Newwave software, shown here, is one of several that use icons...to represent different applications. The Times 8 Dec. 1987, p. 31 These 'earcons', a sound equivalent of icons, would tell the user how much memory is left, which task it is performing and how close it is to finishing. New Scientist 23 June 1988, p. 46