emblem

1 of 2

noun

em·​blem ˈem-bləm 

1

: a picture with a motto or set of verses intended as a moral lesson

2

: an object or the figure of an object symbolizing and suggesting another object or an idea

3

a

: a symbolic object used as a heraldic device

b

: a device, symbol, or figure adopted and used as an identifying mark

emblem

2 of 2

verb

emblemed; embleming; emblems

transitive verb

: emblematize

Did you know?

Emblem Has Greek Roots

Both emblem and its synonym symbol trace back to the Greek verb bállein, meaning "to throw." Emblem arose from embállein, meaning "to insert," while symbol comes from symbállein, Greek for "to throw together." Bállein is also an ancestor of the words parable (from parabállein, "to compare"), metabolism (from metabállein, "to change"), and problem (from probállein, "to throw forward"). Another, somewhat surprising, bállein descendant is devil, which comes from Greek diabolos, literally meaning "slanderer." Diabolos in turn comes from diabállein, meaning "to throw across" or "to slander."

Synonyms

Noun

• ensign
• hallmark
• impresa
• logo
• symbol
• totem
• trademark

Examples of emblem in a Sentence

Noun

The flag is the emblem of our nation.

He has come to be regarded as an emblem of conservatism.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Official place-names such as Corona or Soundview or Brooklyn were less familiar to people in Ecuador; more famous now were the landmarks and other emblems of the city which migrants posted about, like subway lines, parks, the place with the screens. —Jordan Salama, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025

Jon Cooper, the coach for Team Canada at the 4 Nations, has been tested by the fire of helping the Tampa Bay Lightning in four Stanley Cup Finals, but pressure hits differently when the maple leaf is the emblem on players’ red and black jerseys. —Rob Rossi, The Athletic, 3 Jan. 2025

The city of Ayodhya—where Modi inaugurated the new Hindu temple—is a near-perfect emblem of Modi’s rule: It has been reshaped into an advertisement at the expense of its residents. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025

The bald eagle is now officially the national bird of the U.S. after President Biden signed into law legislation amending a code to formally recognize the previously unofficial American emblem. —Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 24 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & New Latin; Middle French embleme "symbolic image typically accompanied by a motto and a verse exposition (books of which constituted a literary genre in the Renaissance)," borrowed from New Latin emblēmat-, emblēma, going back to Latin, "inlaid pavement, inlaid relief on the inside of a metal bowl or other vessel," borrowed from Greek emblēmat-, émblēma "something inserted (as a shaft into a spearhead), relief ornament decorating silver plate," from emblē-, stem in noun derivation of embállein "to drop or place in, throw into, insert" (from em-, variant of en- en- entry 2 before a labial + bállein "to reach by throwing, cast, strike, put, place") + -mat-, -ma, resultative noun suffix — more at devil entry 1

Note: The use of Latin emblēma in reference to a combination of symbolic image and text is apparently owed to the Italian jurist and scholar Andrea Alciato (1492-1550), who gave rise to the emblem book genre with his Emblematum liber (Augsburg, 1531). The semantic gap between the literal meaning of the word and Alciati's use of it has yet to be fully explained. Pace the comments by John F. Moffitt (Andrea Alciati, A Book of Emblems: The Emblematum Liber in Latin and English [Jefferson, NC: 2004], introduction, p. 7), neither Cicero, Quintilian, nor Coelius Rodiginus provide any definite basis for the meaning given emblēma by Alciato.

Verb

derivative of emblem entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1616, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1584, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

emblem

noun

em·​blem

ˈem-bləm

1

: an object or likeness used to suggest a thing that cannot be pictured

the flag is the emblem of our nation

2

: a device, symbol, design, or figure used as an identifying mark

the club's emblem