Icon

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  icon \i"con\ ([imac]"k[o^]n), n. [Also spelled {ikon}.] [L., fr.
     Gr. e'ikw`n.]
     1. An image or representation; a portrait or pretended
        portrait.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              Netherlands whose names and icons are published.
                                                    --Hakewill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Gr. Ch.) A sacred picture representing the Virgin Mary,
        Christ, a saint, or a martyr, and having the same function
        as an image of such a person in the Latin Church. The term
        is used especially for a highly stylized and
        conventionalized representation of a holy person, rich in
        symbolism and used in devotional services in many of the
        eastern Orthodox churches, especially the Greek and
        Russian Orthodox Churches.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
  
     3. a symbol, especially a symbol whose form suggests its
        meaning or the object it represents.
        [PJC]
  
     4. (Computers) a graphical symbol for a data object whose
        form suggests the nature or function of the object;
        especially, such a symbol as viewed on the computer
        screen.
  
     Note: In a graphical user interface, pointing to and clicking
           on an icon may cause any of several types of actions,
           such as opening a file or executing a program,
           depending on how the icon properties are defined.
           [PJC]
  
     5. any object of uncritical devotion.
        [PJC]
  
              The former congresswoman and Vice-Presidential
              candidate Geraldine Ferraro is still an icon to many
              party members.                        --The New York
                                                    Times, April
                                                    16, 1998
        [PJC]
  
     6. an outstanding example of something which has come to
        represent the class of things to which it belongs; a
        paragon; used of persons as well as objects.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  icon
       n 1: (computer science) a graphic symbol (usually a simple
            picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data
            file or a concept in a graphical user interface
       2: a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or
          abstraction) produced on a surface; "they showed us the
          pictures of their wedding"; "a movie is a series of images
          projected so rapidly that the eye integrates them" [syn: {picture},
           {image}, {ikon}]
       3: a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden
          panel; venerated in the Eastern Church [syn: {ikon}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  141 Moby Thesaurus words for "icon":
     Agnus Dei, Holy Grail, Host, Pieta, Sanctus bell, Sangraal,
     abstract, abstraction, altarpiece, ark, asperger, asperges,
     aspergillum, bambino, beadroll, beads, block print, candle, censer,
     certified copy, chaplet, ciborium, collage, color print, companion,
     copy, counterfeit, cross, crucifix, cruet, cyclorama, daub,
     dead ringer, diptych, double, duplicate, ectype, effigy, engraving,
     eucharistial, exact likeness, fair copy, faithful copy, fake,
     fellow, forgery, fresco, glosseme, holy cross, holy water,
     holy-water sprinkler, idol, illumination, illustration, image,
     imitation, incensory, lexeme, lexical form, likeness, living image,
     living picture, match, mate, matzo, menorah, mezuzah, mikvah,
     miniature, mirroring, model, monstrance, montage, morpheme, mosaic,
     mural, osculatory, ostensorium, panorama, paschal candle,
     pasticcio, pastiche, pax, phony, photograph, phrase, phylacteries,
     picture, portrait, prayer shawl, prayer wheel, print, pyx,
     reflection, relics, representation, reproduction, resemblance,
     rood, rosary, rubbing, sacramental, sacred relics, sacring bell,
     semasiological unit, semblance, sememe, shadow, shofar, sign,
     signifiant, significant, similitude, simulacrum, spit and image,
     spitting image, stained glass window, stencil, still life, sukkah,
     symbol, tabernacle, tableau, tallith, tapestry, term, thurible,
     token, trace, tracing, triptych, twin, type, urceole, veronica,
     very image, very picture, vigil light, votive candle,
     wall painting, word
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  icon
       
           A small picture intended to represent something (a
          file, directory, or action) in a {graphical user interface}.
          When an icon is clicked on, some action is performed such as
          opening a directory or aborting a file transfer.
       
          Icons are usually stored as {bitmap} images.  {Microsoft
          Windows} uses a special bitmap format with file name extension
          ".ico" as well as embedding icons in executable (".exe") and
          {Dynamically Linked Library} (DLL) files.
       
          The term originates from {Alan Kay}'s theory for designing
          interfaces which was primarily based on the work of Jerome
          Bruner.  Bruner's second developmental stage, iconic, uses a
          system of representation that depends on visual or other
          sensory organization and upon the use of summarising images.
       
          {IEEE publication
         
       (http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/cht_papers/Barnes.pdf)}.
       
          [What MS tool can create .ico files?]
       
          (2003-08-01)
       
       

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Icon
       
           A descendant of {SNOBOL4} with {Pascal}-like
          syntax, produced by Griswold in the 1970's.  Icon is a
          general-purpose language with special features for string
          scanning.  It has dynamic types: records, sets, lists,
          strings, tables.  If has some {object oriented} features but
          no {modules} or {exception}s.  It has a primitive {Unix}
          interface.
       
          The central theme of Icon is the generator: when an expression
          is evaluated it may be suspended and later resumed, producing
          a result sequence of values until it fails.  Resumption takes
          place implicitly in two contexts: iteration which is
          syntactically loop-like ('every-do'), and goal-directed
          evaluation in which a conditional expression automatically
          attempts to produce at least one result.  Expressions that
          fail are used in lieu of Booleans.  Data {backtracking} is
          supported by a reversible {assignment}.  Icon also has
          {co-expression}s, which can be explicitly resumed at any time.
       
          Version 8.8 by Ralph Griswold  includes
          an {interpreter}, a compiler (for some {platform}s) and a
          library (v8.8).  Icon has been ported to {Amiga}, {Atari},
          {CMS}, {Macintosh}, {Macintosh/MPW}, {MS-DOS}, {MVS}, {OS/2},
          {Unix}, {VMS}, {Acorn}.
       
          See also {Ibpag2}.
       
          {(ftp://cs.arizona.edu/icon/)}, {MS-DOS FTP
          (ftp://bellcore.com norman/iconexe.zip)}.
       
          {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.lang.icon}.
       
          E-mail: , .
       
          Mailing list: icon-group@arizona.edu.
       
          ["The Icon Programmming Language", Ralph E. Griswold and Madge
          T. Griswold, Prentice Hall, seond edition, 1990].
       
          ["The Implementation of the Icon Programmming Language", Ralph
          E. Griswold and Madge T. Griswold, Princeton University Press
          1986].
       
          (1992-08-21)