SYMBOLICAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does symbolical mean? 

• SYMBOLICAL (adjective)
  The adjective SYMBOLICAL has 2 senses:

1. relating to or using or proceeding by means of symbols

2. serving as a visible symbol for something abstract

  Familiarity information: SYMBOLICAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYMBOLICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or using or proceeding by means of symbols

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

symbolic; symbolical

Context example:

symbolic thinking

Pertainym:

symbol (an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance)

Derivation:

symbol (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)

symbol (an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Serving as a visible symbol for something abstract

Synonyms:

emblematic; emblematical; symbolic; symbolical

Context example:

the spinning wheel was as symbolic of colonical Massachusetts as the codfish

Similar:

representative (standing for something else)

Derivation:

symbol (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)

 Context examples 

There were two great aloes, in tubs, on the turf outside the windows; the broad hard leaves of which plant (looking as if they were made of painted tin) have ever since, by association, been symbolical to me of silence and retirement.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)