relating to or using or proceeding by means of symbols
"symbolic logic"
"symbolic operations"
"symbolic thinking"
serving as a visible symbol for something abstract
"a crown is emblematic of royalty"
"the spinning wheel was as symbolic of colonical Massachusetts as the codfish"
Pertaining to a symbol.
"The flag served as a symbolic representation of the nation's freedom."
The word entered English via the French symbolique and ultimately traces back to the Latin symbolicus. It derives from an Ancient Greek term meaning "of or belonging to a symbol."