token

Meaning

Noun

1. Something serving as an expression of something else.
2. A keepsake.
3. A piece of stamped metal or plastic, etc., used as a form of currency; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services.
4. A small physical object, often designed to give the appearance of a common thing, used to represent a person or character in a board game or other situation.
5. A minor attempt for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement; a formality.
6. A minor attempt for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement; a formality.
7. (figuratively, obsolete, sometimes) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.
8. Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion.
9. An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power.
10. An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction.
11. A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
12. Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
13. A tally.
14. A particular thing to which a concept applies.
15. An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing.
16. A conceptual object that can be possessed by a computer, process, etc. in order to regulate a turn-taking system such as a token ring network.
17. A meaningless placeholder used as a substitute for sensitive data.
18. A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
19. A single example of a certain word in a text or corpus.
20. A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
21. (obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
22. Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.
23. A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sent one of these with each corf or tub he had hewn.
24. A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
25. A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.
26. In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.
27. A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Adj

1. Done as an indication or a pledge.
2. Perfunctory or merely symbolic; done or existing for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement.
3. Included in minimal numbers in order to create an impression or illusion of diversity, especially ethnic or gender diversity.

Verb

1. To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
2. To betroth
3. To symbolize, instantiate

Opposite of

type

Synonyms

sign

mark

symbol

signal

proof

emblem

badge

souvenir

indication

character

chip

keepsake

nominal

omen

portent

evidence

remembrance

counter

certificate

stamp

figure

memento

relic

item

characteristic

tokenish

marker

insignia

seal

🦭

certification

symptom

symbolic

tally

brand

clue

flag

testimony

present

piece

reference

donation

memorial

note

distinguishing mark

label

🏷️

designation

deposition

gift

🎁

augury

index

Translations

teken

Zeichen

adstructie

bewijs

signe

işaret

segno

símbolo

simbolo

sein

symbole

symbool

σύμβολο

jeton

merkteken

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtəʊkən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: token

Inherited from Old English: tācn

Inherited from Middle English: toknen

Inherited from Old English: tācnian

Cognate with German: Zeichen

Cognate with Dutch: teken

Cognate with Danish: tegn

In summary

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācn (“sign, symbol”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikn, from Proto-Germanic *taikną (“indicator, symbol, sign”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law. Cognate with Scots takin, taiken (“token, sign”), Saterland Frisian Teken (“sign, symbol”), West Frisian teken (“sign, mark, symbol”), Dutch teken (“sign, indication, symbol”), German Low German Teken (“sign, symbol”), German Zeichen (“sign, token”), Danish tegn (“sign, token, character”), Swedish tecken (“sign, indication”), Faroese tekn, tekin (“mark, sign, signal”), Icelandic teikn (“sign, omen”), Icelandic tákn (“symbol”).
The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English tācnian.

Sentences

These tokens also have a small character printed on the bottom of the token .