symbolism

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a system of symbols and symbolic representations
noun the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning
noun an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images

From symbol + -ism, sense 2 being a semantic loan from French symbolisme.

"But I don't believe in such symbolism, Dora; do you. — Under the Red Dragon: A Novel, James Grant
"One reads in 'The Post Office' his own will of symbolism. — My Reminiscences, Rabindranath Tagore
I remember I flung away the cigar with a certain wasteful symbolism. — The war of the worlds, H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

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