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Dictionary of Symbols
From early cave drawings to modern corporate logos, graphic symbols have been used to convey meanings both tangible and abstract. In this unique dictionary, Carl G. Liungman puts approximately 2,500 Western graphic symbols at your fingertips. Each entry includes the sign's history, its meanings, and the systems in which it is used. Symbols are cross-referenced to other signs with the same meanings and to structurally similar signs with different meanings. Locating an entry is as easy as looking up a word in a dictionary, due to a system that classifies each sign on the basis of three of its structural features.Enhancing the dictionary is a series of fascinating discussions of various aspects of ideograms. These include a discussion of signs and meanings, an overview of the historical development of signs, as well as sections on ancient American ideograms, the astrological system of symbols, the mystical pentagram, and the signs of the alchemists. Two indexes aid the reader. The Word Index specifies signs with a given name or meaning, along with subject headings. The Graphic Index displays symbols based on their structural features.Dictionary of Symbols serves both as a valuable reference on Western cultural history and as a professional tool for those working in design and the arts.
596 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 2, 2009
While a fascinating topic and a great collection of symbols from a broad range of subjects, it's hard to take seriously as a reliable resource when the entries are frequently incomplete, subjective, or just plain wrong.
It's possible that this has something to do with my eighteen year old edition, but a quick perusal of this book's online counterpart, symbols.com, doesn't seem to show many changes.
The dictionary of Symbols attributes the "Have a nice day" smiley face to 1980s psychedelic drug culture* (the face itself was created as part of an ad campaign in 1963, but may have its origins as early as 1948 when something similar appeared in the Ingmar Bergman film Hamnstad), suggests that pyramids have been discovered on the planet Mars (a favorite of conspiracy theorists and ufologists since probe photos in 1976, all subsequent evidence has never revealed them to be anything more than steep mountains), and calls prohibition "stupid" (no argument here, but this kind of editorializing is inappropriate in a reference work).
*The online version has this updated to the 1960s, but still has it attributed solely to drug culture.
The author also spends the most time and energy on the definitions and descriptions of astrological signs, discussing them at length in less than objective terms.
The obvious new-age bias of the book aside, it's also laid out in a difficult-to-use format. The symbols are grouped by various descriptions, i.e. "Multi-axis symmetric, both soft and straight-lined, closed signs with crossing lines" and "Single axis symmetric, soft open signs with crossing lines." That may be a little difficult to get your head around, but these kinds of categories for a reference wherein many of the entries have no formal name is a great idea. The problem arises from the fact that there's no table of contents. There are both text- and icon-based indexes, but without a toc, it becomes difficult to locate a symbol whose name you don't know (even if you did, the aforementioned "smiley" is labeled "acid sign").
So yes: interesting but unreliable. Anyone who decides to read the Dictionary of Symbols should be about as dubious when reading it as when one reads wikipedia.
It's possible that this has something to do with my eighteen year old edition, but a quick perusal of this book's online counterpart, symbols.com, doesn't seem to show many changes.
The dictionary of Symbols attributes the "Have a nice day" smiley face to 1980s psychedelic drug culture* (the face itself was created as part of an ad campaign in 1963, but may have its origins as early as 1948 when something similar appeared in the Ingmar Bergman film Hamnstad), suggests that pyramids have been discovered on the planet Mars (a favorite of conspiracy theorists and ufologists since probe photos in 1976, all subsequent evidence has never revealed them to be anything more than steep mountains), and calls prohibition "stupid" (no argument here, but this kind of editorializing is inappropriate in a reference work).
*The online version has this updated to the 1960s, but still has it attributed solely to drug culture.
The author also spends the most time and energy on the definitions and descriptions of astrological signs, discussing them at length in less than objective terms.
The obvious new-age bias of the book aside, it's also laid out in a difficult-to-use format. The symbols are grouped by various descriptions, i.e. "Multi-axis symmetric, both soft and straight-lined, closed signs with crossing lines" and "Single axis symmetric, soft open signs with crossing lines." That may be a little difficult to get your head around, but these kinds of categories for a reference wherein many of the entries have no formal name is a great idea. The problem arises from the fact that there's no table of contents. There are both text- and icon-based indexes, but without a toc, it becomes difficult to locate a symbol whose name you don't know (even if you did, the aforementioned "smiley" is labeled "acid sign").
So yes: interesting but unreliable. Anyone who decides to read the Dictionary of Symbols should be about as dubious when reading it as when one reads wikipedia.
September 15, 2024
წესით უნდა მივჩვეულიყავი აქამდე, რომ არავინ არაფრად არ გვაგდებს... მსოფლიო ენციკლომპედიები, მითოლოგია და ბევრი სხვა თემატიკა მუდმივად გვერდს გვივლიდ. არც ეს წიგნია გამონაკლისი. ბევრნაირი სიმბოლოა გამოყენებული და სიტყვა არაა ნახსენები კავკასიაზე. მაგ. ბორჯღალი, მნიშვნელოვანი სიმბოლოა ქართველებისთვისაც და სომხებისთვისაც. წიგნში მხოლოდ ბორჯღალის სკანდინავიურ გამოყენებაზეა საუბარი და მის მსგავსებაზე აცტეკურ და მაიანურ ბორჯღალებთან. ვტფ? 🧐
ძალიან გავბრაზდი...
მეორე ვარსკვლავის დაკარგვის მიზეზი წიგნის შეზღუდული თემატიკაა. ეხლა მხოლოდ ეთნიკურ arrogansy არ მიგულისხმია. წიგნში შეხვდებისიმბოლოების მნიშვნელობას ალქიმიაში, ასტროლოგიაში, მაწანწალების ნიშნებში, ამ დროს კი სიტყვა არაა ნახსენები მასონურ სიმბოლოებზე. თუნდაც ლაკონიურად და ორი სიტყვთ. 🤔
ძალიან გავბრაზდი...
მეორე ვარსკვლავის დაკარგვის მიზეზი წიგნის შეზღუდული თემატიკაა. ეხლა მხოლოდ ეთნიკურ arrogansy არ მიგულისხმია. წიგნში შეხვდებისიმბოლოების მნიშვნელობას ალქიმიაში, ასტროლოგიაში, მაწანწალების ნიშნებში, ამ დროს კი სიტყვა არაა ნახსენები მასონურ სიმბოლოებზე. თუნდაც ლაკონიურად და ორი სიტყვთ. 🤔
April 27, 2019
Symbols and icons have been a part of our daily lives for centuries. Some symbols catch our attention and we discover what they mean. While others go unnoticed, but have significant meaning. Here in this book we find a comprehensive collection of symbols from around the world. As you read this book, some symbols will be recognized and possibly one will uncover a deeper meaning. Who knew the Hobo’s had their own language? You will find interesting things like that and more. Happy reading !
August 22, 2019
Great way to get a handle on the history of symbols by complexity, class, and history. Visual artists of all stripes should have a copy of this as should anyone trying to reflect seriously on films, art, or novels.
Or even baseball.
Or even baseball.
December 8, 2023
Notes::
Heavy new age and astrology focus
Venus symbolism and explanations helpful
Author labels many symbols christian, but they are catholic
Heavy new age and astrology focus
Venus symbolism and explanations helpful
Author labels many symbols christian, but they are catholic
November 4, 2015
This compendium of symbols is an excellent resource for artists and designers who use symbols in their work. I’m going to add it to my very full bookshelves soon, a decision that I don’t make lightly.
The book begins by defining symbols, signs, ideograms, and icons. There are comments on how the complexity of a sign influences its breadth of meaning, the basic components of ideographs, and development of sign structures throughout the ages, including use of similar symbols in different times and cultures. A fascinating section on the evolution of ancient writing systems from iconic to phonetic follows. It is interesting to note that ancient Chinese writing remained ideographic; the Liungman speculates that this facilitated universal understanding of written materials among people who spoke many languages. Ancient American ideograms, astrological symbols, alchemical signs, the star, the cross, hobo signs, Third Reich ideographs, and business and modern ideographs are also explored. An annotated bibliography gives further references.
The dictionary itself contains over 400 pages of non-iconic symbols, which “reflect the way...we think, our knowledge of the world, and the way we create visual interpretations of the world’s relationships rather than the things and relationships themselves.” Hundreds of symbols are presented in 54 groups, based upon straight/curved lines, open/closed forms, number of lines, with or without crossing lines, number of axes, etc. The author includes both word and symbol indices to help the reader locate particular symbols of interest.
The universal nature of certain symbols inspires speculation about contact between ancient Egyptian, Greek, Phoenician, Chinese, and pre-Columbian civilizations. The author suggests that such communication could be more probable than Jung’s speculation that such symbols are subconscious psychological archetypes shared by all humankind.
Readers who are interested in language, esoteric symbols, communications, and the universal nature of certain symbols will enjoy this book. Artists and designers can incorporate these symbols and their meanings into their work, or use them to create new symbols. Those who enjoy graphic arts, are drawn to symbolic language, or want to research a particular set of symbols will also like reading and contemplating this book.
The book begins by defining symbols, signs, ideograms, and icons. There are comments on how the complexity of a sign influences its breadth of meaning, the basic components of ideographs, and development of sign structures throughout the ages, including use of similar symbols in different times and cultures. A fascinating section on the evolution of ancient writing systems from iconic to phonetic follows. It is interesting to note that ancient Chinese writing remained ideographic; the Liungman speculates that this facilitated universal understanding of written materials among people who spoke many languages. Ancient American ideograms, astrological symbols, alchemical signs, the star, the cross, hobo signs, Third Reich ideographs, and business and modern ideographs are also explored. An annotated bibliography gives further references.
The dictionary itself contains over 400 pages of non-iconic symbols, which “reflect the way...we think, our knowledge of the world, and the way we create visual interpretations of the world’s relationships rather than the things and relationships themselves.” Hundreds of symbols are presented in 54 groups, based upon straight/curved lines, open/closed forms, number of lines, with or without crossing lines, number of axes, etc. The author includes both word and symbol indices to help the reader locate particular symbols of interest.
The universal nature of certain symbols inspires speculation about contact between ancient Egyptian, Greek, Phoenician, Chinese, and pre-Columbian civilizations. The author suggests that such communication could be more probable than Jung’s speculation that such symbols are subconscious psychological archetypes shared by all humankind.
Readers who are interested in language, esoteric symbols, communications, and the universal nature of certain symbols will enjoy this book. Artists and designers can incorporate these symbols and their meanings into their work, or use them to create new symbols. Those who enjoy graphic arts, are drawn to symbolic language, or want to research a particular set of symbols will also like reading and contemplating this book.
January 14, 2017
Books like this are no longer very necessary or useful with the internet so close to hand, but it's fun to browse to come across things you wouldn't have otherwise. Who knew that the ancient labyrinth symbol I walked in Glendalough also appears in Native American designs? The organization is eclectic and arbitrary (by certain characteristics of the shape), and it's funny to see hobo signs next to zodiacal symbols next to electrical diagram elements next to nautical map symbols. The research is haphazar, incomplete, and frequently mildly wrong, but it makes it feel a little more charming to know this was obviously the result of a lifetime of collecting facts by one man (rather than written by the editorial feeding frenzy that is Wikipedia.) When I came across this book as a high-schooler, I felt like I had been looking for such a book my whole life. (Yes, there is an entry or two about the circle quartered by the cross!)
The book would be greatly improved in usefulness by a few tables in the back that would list symbols by topic area, rather than by shape. Then if you were trying to decode a stained glass window, for example, you could turn to the "medieval Christian symbols" section and just look down the list.
The book would be greatly improved in usefulness by a few tables in the back that would list symbols by topic area, rather than by shape. Then if you were trying to decode a stained glass window, for example, you could turn to the "medieval Christian symbols" section and just look down the list.
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September 19, 2015Well, technically I only read the theory section and perused the cool symbols, but appreciate learning the origins of some of the logos we have today and the subliminal and subconscious impacts of shared idea via symbols. Good resource for writing stories in the realm of superstition and the occult, perhaps. However, it might've helped if I got a more modern book since there are so many new symbols and logos today.
July 27, 2016
Far from comprehensive as it claims, but a solid selection of 95% of symbols that one would actually want to know, I think. Well illustrated, strong and easily understood explanations of each symbol, and an excellent cross-referencing system for locating the symbols you want. However, the glossary of meanings doesn't list all of the symbols for each meaning, and (through no fault of the authors, mind) many of the definitions are out-of-date.
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June 21, 2009Dictionary of Symbols (Norton Paperback) by Carl G. Liungman (1994)
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February 22, 2010I used a hardcover edition while at College for research, and enjoyed it so much I tracked down a copy a few years later.
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July 30, 2012Designing logos, I use this dictionary a lot. Large and straight-forward: a wonderful starting point for design.
February 26, 2013
Awesome!!
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June 15, 2015i am interested to read this book.
November 8, 2007
Good reference.
December 9, 2008
One of y favorite books when looking for tattoo ideas.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews