Meanings
plural emblems
- A representative symbol, such as a trademark, a badge or logo.
The medical trucks were emblazoned with the emblem of the Red Cross.
1 more example
His ſicatrice, with an Embleme of warre, heere on his ſiniſter cheeke;
c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 235 - Something that represents a larger whole.
The rampant poverty in the ethnic slums was just an emblem of the group's disenfranchisement by the society as a whole.
1 more example
Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.
2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities […] ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport) - Inlay; inlaid or mosaic work; something ornamental inserted in a surface.
Broider'd the ground, more color'd than with stone Of costliest emblem
1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC - A picture accompanied with a motto, a set of verses, etc. intended as a moral lesson or meditation.
An Emblem is but a ſilent Parable:
1718, Francis Quarles, Emblems, divine and moral ; together with Hieroglyphicks of the life of man
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA picture placed on the field of the escutcheon.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna visible symbol representing an abstract idea
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἔμβλημα“an insertion”
- Latinemblēma“raised ornaments on vessels, tessellated work, mosaic”
- Old Frenchembleme
- Englishemblem
From Old French embleme, from Latin emblēma (“raised ornaments on vessels, tessellated work, mosaic”), from Ancient Greek ἔμβλημα (émblēma, “an insertion”), from ἐμβάλλειν (embállein, “to put in, to lay on”). Doublet of emblema.
More words from Old French, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans embleem
- embleemrepresentative symbol
Arabic شِعَار, رَمْز
- شِعَار (šiʕār)representative symbol
- رَمْز (ramz)representative symbol
Basque ikur
- ikurrepresentative symbol
Bulgarian ембле́ма
- ембле́ма (embléma)representative symbol
Catalan emblema
- emblemarepresentative symbol
Chinese Mandarin 象徵 /象征, 象徵性 /象征性
- 象徵 /象征 (xiàngzhēng)representative symbol
- 象徵性 /象征性 (xiàngzhēngxìng)representative symbol
Czech emblém, znak
- emblémrepresentative symbol
- znakrepresentative symbol
Danish emblem
- emblemrepresentative symbol
Dutch embleem
- embleemrepresentative symbol
Esperanto emblemo
- emblemorepresentative symbol
Estonian embleem, võrdkuju
- embleemrepresentative symbol
- võrdkujurepresentative symbol
Finnish tunnus, embleemi
- tunnusrepresentative symbol
- embleemirepresentative symbol
- tunnuskuvarepresentation of a larger whole
- vertauskuvarepresentation of a larger whole
French emblème
- emblèmerepresentative symbol
German Emblem
- Emblemrepresentative symbol
Greek έμβλημα
- έμβλημα (émvlima)representative symbol
Hebrew סִימָן
- סִימָן (simán)representative symbol
Hindi प्रतीक, चिह्न
- प्रतीक (pratīk)representative symbol
- चिह्न (cihna)representative symbol
- चिन्ह (cinha)representative symbol
Hungarian embléma, jelkép
- emblémarepresentative symbol
- jelképrepresentative symbol
Icelandic tákn
- táknrepresentative symbol
Indonesian lambang
- lambangrepresentative symbol
Italian emblema, raffigurazione
- emblemarepresentative symbol
- raffigurazionerepresentative symbol
- simbolorepresentative symbol
Japanese 表号, エンブレム
- 表号 (hyōgō)representative symbol
- エンブレム (enburemu)representative symbol
- 象徴 (shōchō)representative symbol
Korean 상징, 엠블럼
- 상징 (sangjing)representative symbol
- 엠블럼 (embeulleom)representative symbol
Latin insigne
- insignerepresentative symbol
Latvian emblēma
- emblēmarepresentative symbol
Lithuanian emblema
- emblemarepresentative symbol
Malay lambang
- lambangrepresentative symbol
Māori amorangi, tohu
- amorangirepresentation of a larger whole
- tohurepresentation of a larger whole
Norwegian Bokmål emblem
- emblemrepresentative symbol
Persian نماد, نشان
- نماد (namâd)representative symbol
- نشان (nešân)representative symbol
- علامت ('alâmat)representative symbol
Polish godło, emblemat
- godłorepresentative symbol
- emblematrepresentative symbol
Portuguese emblema
- emblemarepresentative symbol
Romanian emblemă
- emblemărepresentative symbol
Russian эмбле́ма
- эмбле́ма (embléma)representative symbol
Slovak znak, odznak
- znakrepresentative symbol
- odznakrepresentative symbol
Spanish emblema
- emblemarepresentative symbol
Swedish emblem
- emblemrepresentative symbol
Tagalog sagisag, simbulo
- sagisagrepresentative symbol
- simbulorepresentative symbol
Thai เครื่องหมาย, สัญลักษณ์
- เครื่องหมาย (krʉ̂ʉang-mǎai)representative symbol
- สัญลักษณ์ (sǎn-yá-lák)representative symbol
Turkish belirtke, amblem
- belirtkerepresentative symbol
- amblemrepresentative symbol
Ukrainian ембле́ма
- ембле́ма (embléma)representative symbol
Urdu چنه, علامت
- چنه (cinh)representative symbol
- علامت ('alāmat)representative symbol
Vietnamese biểu tượng
- biểu tượngrepresentative symbol
Cite this entry
emblem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emblem
“emblem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emblem. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “emblem,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emblem.
Source: emblem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.