Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Icon \I"con\, n. (Gr. Ch.)
   A sacred picture representing the Virgin Mary, Christ, a
   saint, or a martyr, and having the same function as an image
   of such a person in the Latin Church.

Icon \I"con\ ([imac]"k[o^]n), n. [L., fr. Gr. e'ikw`n.]
   An image or representation; a portrait or pretended portrait.

         Netherlands whose names and icons are published.
                                                  --Hakewill.

Source : WordNet®

icon
     n 1: (computer science) a graphic symbol (usually a simple
          picture) that denotes a program or a command or a data
          file or a concept in a graphical user interface
     2: a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or
        abstraction) produced on a surface; "they showed us the
        pictures of their wedding"; "a movie is a series of images
        projected so rapidly that the eye integrates them" [syn: {picture},
         {image}, {ikon}]
     3: a conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden
        panel; venerated in the Eastern Church [syn: {ikon}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

icon
     
         A small picture intended to represent something (a
        file, directory, or action) in a {graphical user interface}.
        When an icon is clicked on, some action is performed such as
        opening a directory or aborting a file transfer.
     
        Icons are usually stored as {bitmap} images.  {Microsoft
        Windows} uses a special bitmap format with file name extension
        ".ico" as well as embedding icons in executable (".exe") and
        {Dynamically Linked Library} (DLL) files.
     
        The term originates from {Alan Kay}'s theory for designing
        interfaces which was primarily based on the work of Jerome
        Bruner.  Bruner's second developmental stage, iconic, uses a
        system of representation that depends on visual or other
        sensory organization and upon the use of summarising images.
     
        {IEEE publication
       
     (http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/cht_papers/Barnes.pdf)}.
     
        [What MS tool can create .ico files?]
     
        (2003-08-01)

Icon
     
         A descendant of {SNOBOL4} with {Pascal}-like
        syntax, produced by Griswold in the 1970's.  Icon is a
        general-purpose language with special features for string
        scanning.  It has dynamic types: records, sets, lists,
        strings, tables.  If has some {object oriented} features but
        no {modules} or {exception}s.  It has a primitive {Unix}
        interface.
     
        The central theme of Icon is the generator: when an expression
        is evaluated it may be suspended and later resumed, producing
        a result sequence of values until it fails.  Resumption takes
        place implicitly in two contexts: iteration which is
        syntactically loop-like ('every-do'), and goal-directed
        evaluation in which a conditional expression automatically
        attempts to produce at least one result.  Expressions that
        fail are used in lieu of Booleans.  Data {backtracking} is
        supported by a reversible {assignment}.  Icon also has
        {co-expression}s, which can be explicitly resumed at any time.
     
        Version 8.8 by Ralph Griswold  includes
        an {interpreter}, a compiler (for some {platform}s) and a
        library (v8.8).  Icon has been ported to {Amiga}, {Atari},
        {CMS}, {Macintosh}, {Macintosh/MPW}, {MS-DOS}, {MVS}, {OS/2},
        {Unix}, {VMS}, {Acorn}.
     
        See also {Ibpag2}.
     
        {(ftp://cs.arizona.edu/icon/)}, {MS-DOS FTP
        (ftp://bellcore.com norman/iconexe.zip)}.
     
        {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.lang.icon}.
     
        E-mail: , .
     
        Mailing list: [email protected].
     
        ["The Icon Programmming Language", Ralph E. Griswold and Madge
        T. Griswold, Prentice Hall, seond edition, 1990].
     
        ["The Implementation of the Icon Programmming Language", Ralph
        E. Griswold and Madge T. Griswold, Princeton University Press
        1986].
     
        (1992-08-21)