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Webster 1913 Edition

Token

To′ken

(tō′k’n)
,
Noun.
[OE.
token
,
taken
, AS.
tācen
; akin to OFries.
tēken
, OS.
tēkan
, D.
teeken
, G.
zeichen
, OHG.
Zeihhan
, Icel.
tākan
,
teiken
, Sw.
tecken
, Dan.
tegn
, Goth.
taikns
sign, token, ga
teihan
to tell, show, AS.
teón
to accuse, G.
zeihen
, OHG.
zīhan
, G.
zeigen
to show, OHG.
zeigōn
, Icel.
tjā
, L.
dicere
to say, Gr.
δεικνύναι
to show, Skr.
diç
. Cf.
Diction
,
Teach
.]
1.
Something intended or supposed to represent or indicate another thing or an event; a sign; a symbol;
as, the rainbow is a
token
of God’s covenant established with Noah
.
2.
A memorial of friendship; something by which the friendship of another person is to be kept in mind; a memento; a souvenir.
This is some
token
from a never friend.
Shakespeare
3.
Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith, etc.
Say, by this
token
, I desire his company.
Shakespeare
4.
A piece of metal intended for currency, and issued by a private party, usually bearing the name of the issuer, and redeemable in lawful money. Also, a coin issued by government, esp. when its use as lawful money is limited and its intrinsic value is much below its nominal value.
☞ It is now made unlawful for private persons to issue tokens.
5.
(Med.)
A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
[Obs.]
Like the fearful
tokens
of the plague,
Are mere forerunners of their ends.
Beau. & Fl.
6.
(Print.)
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.
7.
(Ch. of Scot.)
A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.
8.
(Mining)
A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
Token money
,
money which is lawfully current for more than its real value. See
Token
,
Noun.
, 4.
–
Token sheet
(Print.)
,
the last sheet of each token.
W. Savage.

To′ken

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tokened
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Tokening
.]
[AS.
tācnian
, fr.
tācen
token. See
Token
,
Noun.
]
To betoken.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Token

TOKEN

,
Noun.
to'kn. [L. signum, dialetically varied, or from the same radix.]
1.
A sign; something intended to represent or indicate another thing or an event. Thus the rainbow is a token of God's covenant established with Noah. The blood of the paschal lamb, sprinkled on the doors of the Hebrews, was a token to the destroying angel of God's will that he should pass by those houses. Gen.9. Ex.12.
Show me a token for good. Ps.86.
2.
A mark. In pestilential diseases, tokens are livid spots upon the body, which indicate the approach of death.
3.
A memorial of friendship; something by which the friendship of another person is to be kept in mind.
4.
In coinage, tokens were coins struck in the reign of Elizabeth in the cities of Bristol, Oxford and Worcester, and also by private persons, which were put into circulation, and upon being returned,the issuer gave the value of them in current money.
5.
In printing, ten quires of paper; an extra quire is usually added to every other token, when counted out for the press.

Definition 2024

token

token

English

Noun

token ‎(plural tokens)

  1. Something serving as an expression of something else; sign, symbol
    According to the Bible, the rainbow is a token of God's covenant with Noah.
  2. A keepsake, memento, souvenir
    Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.
  3. A piece of stamped metal used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services
    Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.
    A book token is the easiest option for a Christmas gift.
  4. (obsolete, sometimes figuratively) Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.
    • Shakespeare
      Say, by this token, I desire his company.
  5. Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion; reason, reasoning, witcraft (see usage)
  6. An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power, a miracle
  7. An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction; a password
  8. A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.
  9. Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
      Say, by this token, I desire his company.
  10. A tally
  11. (philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.
  12. (computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing. Also called a symbol.
    • 2004, Randall Hyde, Write Great Code: Understanding the Machine, page 68
      For each lexeme, the scanner creates a small data package known as a token and passes this data package on to the parser.
  13. (computing) 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.
  14. (grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.
  15. (medicine) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.
  16. (medicine, obsolete) A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Beaumont and Fletcher
      Like the fearful tokens of the plague, Are mere forerunners of their ends.
  17. (printing) 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.
  18. (mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.
  19. (mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.
  20. (rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.
  21. (weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.
  22. (Church of Scotland) A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Synonyms

  • (something serving as an expression of something else): sign, symbol
  • (atomic piece of data): symbol

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kroonen, Guus (2011). The Proto-Germanic n-stems: a study in diachronic morphophonology, Rodopi. ISBN 9042032936.

Adjective

token ‎(comparative more token, superlative most token)

  1. Done as an indication or a pledge; perfunctory, minimal or merely symbolic.
    He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.
    • 1927, Arthur Robert Burns, Money and Monetary Policy in Early Times, page 393
      If the as had been reduced to a token in 240 BC, it was now a little more token than before.
    • 2000, Cheris Kramarae, Dale Spender, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women, Page 176
      There are still many churches where the participation of women is token.
    • 2008, Adrian Blomfield, The Daily Telegraph, Has Russia got a new Stalin?, March 31, 2008
      Just to be on the safe side, the The Kremlin has also banned any of Putin’s serious critics from standing. Three unelectable misfits have been allowed to mount token challenges.
  2. a minor attempt for appearance sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement
    • he was hired as the company's token black
    • the television show was primarily directed toward a negro audience, but it did have a few token whites as performers

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

token ‎(third-person singular simple present tokens, present participle tokening, simple past and past participle tokened)

  1. To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote
    • 1398, in Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press 1962, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:
      dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. […] Golden or reddish-yellow […] (a. 1398) *Trev. Barth. 59b/a: ʒelouʒ colour [of urine] […] tokeneþ febleness of hete […] dorrey & citrine & liʒt red tokeneþ mene.}}
    • 1928, Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, Penguin 2010, p. 149:
      The instinct revolted against the inevitable punishment to come, already tokened by those big holes now met in walls and crossings.
  2. To betroth
  3. (philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate
    • 2008 August 27, Mikkel Gerken, “Is There a Simple Argument for Higher-Order Representation Theories of Awareness Consciousness?”, in Erkenntnis, volume 69, number 2, DOI:10.1007/s10670-008-9116-z:
      In which sense does ‘∀p ~(p & ~p)’ cause the tokening of the belief in the subject?

Derived terms

References

  • Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtoːkə(n)/

Etymology

From English token.

Noun

token m, n ‎(plural tokens, diminutive tokentje n)

  1. (computing) token, an atomic piece of data.

Usage notes

There is no general agreement about the gender. In the south, people tend to use neuter, whereas in the north, masculine is preferred.

Anagrams

Swedish

Noun

token

  1. definite singular of tok

Etymology

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācen, tācn ‎(“symbol, sign, signal, mark, indication, suggestion; portent, marvel, wonder, miracle; evidence, proof: standard, banner”), from Proto-Germanic *taikną ‎(“sign, token”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‎(“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law.[1] Cognate with Scots taiken ‎(“sign, token”), West Frisian teken ‎(“sign, token”), Dutch teken ‎(“sign, symbol, token”), German Zeichen ‎(“sign”), Swedish tecken ‎(“sign, mark, indication, token”), Icelandic tákn, teikn ‎(“sign, symbol”), Latin index ‎(“finger”, literally “pointer”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι ‎(deíknumi, “show, point out, teach”), Albanian theks ‎(“accent, sign”). More at toe.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtəʊkən/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈtoʊkən/
  • Rhymes: -əʊkən

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