token: Meaning and Definition of

to•ken

Pronunciation: (tō'kun), [key]
— n.
  1. something serving to represent or indicate some fact, event, feeling, etc.; sign: Black is a token of mourning.
  2. a characteristic indication or mark of something; evidence or proof: Malnutrition is a token of poverty.
  3. a memento; souvenir; keepsake: The seashell was a token of their trip.
  4. something used to indicate authenticity, authority, etc.; emblem; badge: Judicial robes are a token of office.
  5. Also calleda stamped piece of metal, issued as a limited medium of exchange, as for bus fares, at a nominal value much greater than its commodity value.
  6. anything of only nominal value similarly used, as paper currency.
  7. an item, idea, person, etc., representing a group; a part as representing the whole; sample; indication.
  8. a particular instance of a word, symbol, expression, sentence, or the like:Cf.(def. 8). A printed page might have twenty tokens of the single type-word “and.”
  9. She has a talent as a painter, and by the same token has a sharp eye for detail.
    1. in proof of which.
    2. moreover; furthermore:She has a talent as a painter, and by the same token has a sharp eye for detail.
  10. as a sign of; in evidence of: a ring in token of his love.
—v.t.
  1. to be a token of; signify; symbolize.
—adj.
  1. serving as a token: a token gift; a token male on an all-female staff.
  2. slight; perfunctory; minimal: token resistance.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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