What does "token" mean?

1. (a symbol of a feeling) an object that represents a feeling, a fact, or a memory. 2. (a voucher or coin substitute) a round piece of metal or plastic used instead of money for machines, games, or buses. 3. (computing/linguistics unit) a single unit of data, like a word in a sentence or a piece of code. 4. (symbolic or minimal) done only to show you are following a rule, without much effort or real meaning. 5. (to represent) to be a sign of something that will happen.

token

n. · adj. · v.

US //ˈtoʊkən// UK //tˈəʊkən// to·ken

1 a symbol of a feeling (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

an object that represents a feeling, a fact, or a memory.

something serving as a visible or tangible expression of a quality, emotion, or fact.

Example

Please accept this small gift as a token of our gratitude for your help.

Example

The silver locket was cherished not for its material value, but as a token of a friendship that had spanned four decades.
- symbol
- sign
- keepsake
2 a voucher or coin substitute (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a round piece of metal or plastic used instead of money for machines, games, or buses.

a piece of stamped metal or plastic used as a limited form of currency or a voucher for specific goods and services.

Example

You need to buy a token from the machine to use the laundry facilities.

Example

The arcade required visitors to exchange their cash for brass tokens before they could operate any of the vintage mechanical games.

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3 computing/linguistics unit (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical Computing

a single unit of data, like a word in a sentence or a piece of code.

an individual occurrence of a linguistic unit in a corpus, or an atomic piece of data identified during computational parsing.

Example

The software counts every word in the document as a separate token.

Example

The lexical analyser breaks the source code into tokens, such as identifiers and operators, before the syntax tree is constructed.
- unit
- instance
4 symbolic or minimal (adj.)
C1 Advanced Formal

done only to show you are following a rule, without much effort or real meaning.

performed or existing only as a symbolic gesture or to minimally comply with requirements; often implies a lack of genuine intent.

Example

The company made a token effort to go green by removing plastic straws.

Example

Critics argued that the appointment was merely a token gesture intended to quiet public outcry rather than a substantive change in policy.
- substantial
- genuine
5 to represent (v.)
C2 Proficiency Archaic Literary

to be a sign of something that will happen.

to serve as a sign or symbol of something; to portend or indicate.

Example

The dark clouds tokened a coming storm that would last all night.

Example

In the ancient poem, the sudden flight of ravens was said to token the fall of the king's lineage.
- betoken
- signify
- indicate

Origin

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.