„symbol... 1: something that stands for something else; esp: something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that cannot in itself be represented or visualized: EMBLEM < the cross is the symbol of Christianity> 2: a letter, character, or sign used (as to represent a quantity, position, relationship, direction, or something to be done) instead of a word or group of words [derived from Greek symbolon ‚token of identity to be verified by matching it with its other half, symbol‘, from symballein ‚to throw together, compare‘, from syn- + ballein ‚to throw‘]“1