1. any object, figure, or image (e.g., flag, logo, pictogram, religious symbol such as a cross) that represents something else. A written or spoken word can be regarded as a particular kind of symbol (see arbitrary symbol; signifier). In literature and art, symbols are generally suggestive rather than explicit in their meaning: For example, a rose may suggest ideas of beauty, love, femininity, and transience without being limited to any of these meanings in particular. Carl Jung maintained that the symbols of religion, mythology, and art throw special light on the collective unconscious. See also sign.

2. in classical psychoanalytic theory, a disguised representation of a repressed idea, impulse, or wish. See also symbolization.

3. in safety engineering, a pictorial device used in risk communications to warn workers or consumers of the hazards associated with tools or systems. See signal word panel. —symbolic adj.