symbolic representation
- noun
- /sɪmˈbɑlɪk ˌrɛprɪzɛnˈteɪʃən/
- A national flag is often considered a symbolic representation of a country and its values.
- symbolic representation of knowledge
- symbolic representation of experience
- social and symbolic representation
So that's what you're doing with Wolfram Alpha and Wolfram Language is you're trying to come up with symbolic representations.
- So that's what you're doing with Wolfram Alpha and Wolfram Language is you're trying to come up with symbolic representations.
Examples
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Monumental constructions are created for a purpose, often as a symbolic representation of a particular vision of a people or a place.
Academic text (2012) -
Language is a symbolic representation of experience, and stories are a representation of the relationships within experiences.
Academic text (2002) -
The story of Jesus as the Christ provides such a symbolic representation.
Academic text (1993) -
Physical structure, institutions, and symbolic representations do not make a system adaptive; culture does.
Academic text (2012) -
The building was to become the symbolic representation of what he believes Galicia is or should be.
Academic text (2012) -
The circle, which is the symbolic representation of the harmony of these relationships, is not a hierarchical structure.
Academic text (2015) -
Well, we, we have a kind of symbolic representation, a kind of modernist iconography, if you like, of a spiritual state.
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System designers create symbolic representations of organizational reality to create an AIS.
Academic text (1999) -
The atelierista supports children's experiences with symbolic representation and teachers' creation of documentation.
Academic text (2015) -
We often employ symbolic representations (n18) to influence rather than relying on real acts or utterances.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
An object that stands for an idea or feeling
A picture that represents a person, thing, or idea
A picture or model that shows what something looks like
A person or thing that shows an idea, quality and feeling
A symbol or word that stands for something else
A visible object that stands for an idea, like a statue for justice
A person or object that stands for an idea with deeper meaning
A small picture on a screen that shows an idea, thing, feeling or action
How Symbolic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'something that stands for or represents something else' is directly and compositionally derived from 'symbolic' (using symbols) + 'representation' (a depiction or stand-in). This construction is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words will readily infer the full meaning.
Etymology
The term symbolic representation comes from the simple idea of one visible thing that 'stands for' something else, like a flag. A flag is just cloth but it 'stands for' a country's story and values, so a symbolic representation is a visible sign that points to an idea or feeling you cannot see directly.