# icon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈaɪ.kɒn/ · frequency rank #5,504

## Definitions
1. An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
2. A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
3. A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
4. A small picture that represents something.
5. A small picture that represents something.
6. A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.

## Etymology
From Latin īcōn, from Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn, “likeness, image, portrait”). Eastern Orthodox Church sense is attested from 1833. Computing sense first recorded in 1982.

## Easily confused with
- **in** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-in)
- **io** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-io)
- **ion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ion)
- **iOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ios)
- **inn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-inn)
- **iso** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-iso)
- **IMO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-imo)
- **icy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-icy)
- **IPO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ipo)
- **ICT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ict)
- **ICU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-icu)
- **IOC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ioc)
- **ICS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ics)
- **Ivo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ivo)
- **IOM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-iom)
- **iron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-iron)
- **Iran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-iran)
- **idol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-idol)
- **Ivan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ivan)
- **iPod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/icon-vs-ipod)

## Common misspellings (4)
`iccon`, `icno`, `iconn`, `iocn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/icon