# token

/ˈtoʊkən/ (US) · /tˈəʊkən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/token
Updated: 2026-07-22

## Senses

### 1. a symbol of a feeling

noun · CEFR B2

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

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

- Please accept this small gift as a token of our gratitude for your help.
- The silver locket was cherished not for its material value, but as a token of a friendship that had spanned four decades.

### 2. a voucher or coin substitute

noun · CEFR B2

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

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

- You need to buy a token from the machine to use the laundry facilities.
- The arcade required visitors to exchange their cash for brass tokens before they could operate any of the vintage mechanical games.

### 3. computing/linguistics unit

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

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

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

- The software counts every word in the document as a separate token.
- The lexical analyser breaks the source code into tokens, such as identifiers and operators, before the syntax tree is constructed.

### 4. symbolic or minimal

adjective · CEFR C1 · Formal

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

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

- The company made a token effort to go green by removing plastic straws.
- Critics argued that the appointment was merely a token gesture intended to quiet public outcry rather than a substantive change in policy.

### 5. to represent

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

to be a sign of something that will happen.

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

- The dark clouds tokened a coming storm that would last all night.
- In the ancient poem, the sudden flight of ravens was said to token the fall of the king's lineage.

## Examples

- 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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.