Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “icon” come from?

Icon comes from Latin icon, from Ancient Greek εἰκών, from Proto-Indo-European weyk-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wey-.

icon (English): An image, symbol, picture, or other...

Definitions

  1. An image, symbol, picture, or other...

Ancestry of “icon”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinīcon—
2Ancient Greekεἰκώνfigure, image, likeness, portrait; image in a...
3Proto-Indo-Europeanweyk-to separate, to choose; to contain, to envelop;...
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwey-to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;...

Words derived from “icon”

  • iconography
  • emoticon
  • aniconism
  • iconization
  • iconographer
  • iconophile
  • iconophobia
  • iconophobic
  • iconism
  • iconize
  • iconify
  • iconical
  • iconisation
  • iconification
  • iconlike
  • iconise
  • iconomania
  • autoicon
  • iconless
  • emoticonized
  • iconophilism
  • iconophilist
  • emoticonlike
  • emoticono
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wey- →