noun
icon
EYE-kon
noun
1
A small picture or symbol on a screen that represents a program, file, or action.
"She tapped the mail icon to check her inbox."
"The app's icon is a simple blue circle."
2
A person or thing so famous and admired that it comes to represent a whole category or era.
"The singer became a cultural icon after that one performance."
"The red phone box is an icon of British design."
3
A religious painting, typically of a saint or holy figure, especially in Eastern Orthodox tradition.
"The church displayed a gold-leafed icon of Saint George."
How to Use Icon
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small on-screen symbol, or — used more loosely — someone or something famous enough to be a symbol of a whole style or generation.
Common pairings
click the icon
a fashion icon
religious icon
Word Forms
icons plural
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She tapped the mail _____ to check her inbox.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek eikōn, meaning "likeness" or "image" — the religious sense came first, and the computing sense only arrived in the 1980s with graphical interfaces.