Etymology

symbol

sym·bol
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Today it means: A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. Full definition →

French symbole ← Latin symbolum ← Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱómder.?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*sem-der.?
  4. Proto-Hellenic*ksún
  5. Ancient Greekσύν (sún)
  6. Ancient Greekσυμ- (sum-)
  7. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  8. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  9. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  10. Ancient Greekσῠμβάλλω (sŭmbállō)
  11. Ancient Greekσύμβολον (súmbolon)
  12. Latinsymbolum
  13. Frenchsymbole
  14. English todaysymbol

From French symbole, from Latin symbolus, symbolum (“a sign, mark, token, symbol, in Late Latin also a creed”), from Ancient Greek σύμβολον (súmbolon, “a sign by which one infers something; a mark, token, badge, ticket, tally, check, a signal, watchword, outward sign”), from συμβάλλω (sumbállō, “to throw together, dash together, compare, correspond, tally, come to a conclusion”), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, put”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.