August 10, 2011
- emblem (noun)
- \EM-blum\
- What does it mean?
- 1 : an object or likeness used to suggest a thing that cannot be pictured2 : a device, symbol, design, or figure used as an identifying mark
- How do you use it?
- The bald eagle and the American flag are emblems of the United States.
- Are you a word wiz?
There is another word that means about the same thing as "emblem" and that comes from the same parent word. Which of the following words do think is a synonym and relative of "emblem"?
The Stars and Stripes and the bald eagle are both emblems and symbols of our country. If you do some word research, you will discover that "emblem" and its synonym, "symbol," both trace to the ancient Greek verb "ballein," meaning "to throw." "Ballein" gave rise to an interesting group of English words. It is also an ancestor of the words "parable" (a short story that illustrates a moral or truth), "metabolism" (the life processes of living things), "problem," and "devil."
