different between icon vs sigil

English

Alternative forms

• eikon, ikon (only in sense of religious image)

Etymology

From Latin ?c?n, from Ancient Greek ????? (eik?n, “likeness, image, portrait”). Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded in 1982.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?a?.k?n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?a?.k??n/

Noun

icon (plural icons)

1. An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion.

   Synonyms: idol, (pejorative) graven image

2. (religion, especially Eastern Christianity) A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
3. (by extension) A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:exemplar, Thesaurus:model

4. (graphical user interface) A small picture that represents something.

   Click the loudspeaker icon to configure audio settings.

5. (linguistics) A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.

   Coordinate terms: symbol, index.

Derived terms

• aniconic, aniconism
• iconism

Related terms

• iconic
• iconoclasm, iconoclast, iconoclastic
• iconify
• iconography
• iconstasis

Translations

Further reading

• icon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• icon (computing) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• COIN, Coin, Nico, cion, coin, coni

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????? (eik?n, “likeness, image, portrait”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?i?.ko?n/, [?i?ko?n]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?i.kon/, [?i?k?n]

Noun

?c?n f (genitive ?conis); third declension

1. an image
2. (later Latin): icon (religious painting)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Related terms

• ?conicus
• ?conismus

References

• icon in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• icon in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• icon in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• icon in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700?^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sigillum (“little sign”). Doublet of seal and sigillum.

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?j?l, IPA^(key): /?s?d??l/
• enPR: s?j?l, IPA^(key): /?s?d??l/
• Hyphenation: sigil
• Rhymes: -?d??l

Noun

sigil (plural sigils)

1. A seal, signature or signet.
2. An occult or magical sign, image or symbol.
3. (programming) A nonalphanumeric character affixed to a symbol (e.g. variable) to indicate a property such as type or scope.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Hungarian notation

Anagrams

• igils

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sigillum. Doublet of segell.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /si??il/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /si?d??il/

Noun

sigil m (plural sigils)

1. secrecy

Related terms

• sigil·lós

Further reading

• “sigil” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.