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WORD → PARENT → PARENT → UNKNOWNGO TO
THE ROOT.
Do not stop at the first ancestor. Follow every cited route—through compounds, reconstructions, and disagreements—until human knowledge actually stops.
START / NODE 526Present-Day English1572–today
icon
An image, likeness, representative figure, or display symbol, borrowed through Late Latin from Greek eikōn.
“Before celebrity and computing, an icon was an image or likeness. The Greek word is attested, but its deeper origin is uncertain: rigor means stopping there.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
EVERY REVIEWED PARENT, NOT ONE EDITORIAL PATH
FOLLOW EVERY BRANCH.
Compound components and competing routes stay separate. Every arrow retains its sound change, semantic change, scholar, confidence, and exact sources.
00Present-Day English · attestedicon
image, likeness, representative symbol, or computer-display symbol
01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishicon
image, likeness, representative symbol, or computer-display symbol
↑GO DEEPER
Latin · Late Latinīcōnimage or likeness
- SOUND CHANGE
- English icon borrows Late Latin īcōn with English stress and vowel adaptation.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- Image and likeness extend into religious, symbolic, cultural, and computing senses.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- English first-known-use is reported in 1572.
3 CITATIONSIcon — Definition, Word History, and First Known UseWord History: Late Latin icon Icon — Origin and historyHeadword history: Late Latin icon American Heritage Dictionary: iconWord History: Latin icon AUDIT CANONICAL EDGE 491 ↗
Documents the English borrowing.
ORIGINAL ↗Independently documents the route.
ORIGINAL ↗Provides a third historical-dictionary account.
ORIGINAL ↗THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
Crossing into a starred form changes the evidence class. The interface marks that crossing, preserves confidence, and never manufactures the next root to make the picture look complete.