token
n. countablen. an object that represents a feeling, a fact, or a more valuable thing. You might give someone a small gift as a token of your thanks.
n. a tangible representation or symbol of a quality, fact, or feeling. In computing, it refers to a discrete unit of text or data used for processing or authentication.
Please accept this gift as a token of my appreciation.
The security system requires a digital token to grant access to the sensitive company files.
While the pay rise was welcomed, many employees viewed it as a mere token of goodwill that failed to address the underlying issues of workplace culture.
From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācn (“sign, symbol”), from Proto-West Germanic taikn, from Proto-Germanic taikną (“indicator, symbol, sign”), from Proto-Indo-European deyḱ- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic k rather than *h by Kluge's law. Cognate with Scots takin, taiken (“token, sign”), Saterland Frisian Teken (“sign, symbol”), West Frisian teken (“sign, mark, symbol”), Dutch teken (“sign, indication, symbol”), German Low German Teken (“sign, symbol”), German Zeichen (“sign, token”), Danish tegn (“sign, token, character”), Swedish tecken (“sign, indication”), Faroese tekn, tekin (“mark, sign, signal”), Icelandic teikn (“sign, omen”), Icelandic tákn (“symbol”). The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English tācnian.
Often used in the fixed phrase 'as a token of' followed by an abstract noun like 'gratitude' or 'appreciation'.