Did you know?
Emblem Has Greek Roots
Both emblem and its synonym symbol trace back to the Greek verb bállein, meaning "to throw." Emblem arose from embállein, meaning "to insert," while symbol comes from symbállein, Greek for "to throw together." Bállein is also an ancestor of the words parable (from parabállein, "to compare"), metabolism (from metabállein, "to change"), and problem (from probállein, "to throw forward"). Another, somewhat surprising, bállein descendant is devil, which comes from Greek diabolos, literally meaning "slanderer." Diabolos in turn comes from diabállein, meaning "to throw across" or "to slander."
Examples of emblem in a Sentence
Lauren Mowery, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025
This apartment block sits on the northern bank; the presidential palace, an emblem of power for centuries, is on the southern bank.
—New York Times, 22 Mar. 2025
This will be broken up into seasons, with the first season running from March 27 to April 26, 2025, and players will be able to earn an emblem based on their rank at the end of the season.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
So their costumes, with emblems embroidered on the chest, express their rank and there’s so much symbolism going on.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emblem
Cite this Entry
“Emblem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emblem. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share