/
ˈʌɪkɒn,
-k(ə)n/
n.
-
(also ikon)
a devotional painting of Christ or another holy figure, typically on wood, venerated in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.
- a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration.
- Computing a symbol or graphic representation on a VDU screen of a program, option, or window.
- Linguistics a sign which has a characteristic in common with the thing it signifies, for example the word snarl pronounced in a snarling way.
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘simile’): via L. from Gk eikōn ‘image’.