emoticon en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ɪˈmoʊtəˌkɑn/ (Canada, US)
- /əˈmoʊtəˌkɑn/ (Canada, US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ɪˈməʊtɪˌkɒn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Latin ēmoveō Vulgar Latin *exmovēre Old French esmovoir Middle French esmouvoir Middle French emotionbor. English emotion Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn)der. Latin īcōnbor. English icon blend English emoticon Blend of emotion + icon. Unrelated to emoji.
Meanings
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A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication. ▸ A graphic made up of text characters to represent such emotion; a smiley.
The range of interpretations was surprising broad, for instance the emoticon (-.-) had 16 possible interpretations
2007, M. Yanagisawa, M. Kobayashi, Y. Kato, S. Kato, D. Scott, “Research on the emotions interpreted from emoticons in Japanese cellular telephone email”, in T. Hirashima, U. Hoppe, S. Young, editors, Supporting Learning Flow through Integrative Technologies, →ISBN, page 271:In a 4 by 2 experimental procedure, :) ;) :( or no emoticon were inserted alternately in simulated e-mail message mock-ups
2006, Joseph B. Walther, “Nonverbal dynamics in computer-mediated communication”, in Valerie Manusov, Miles Patterson, editors, The SAGE Handbook of Nonverbal Communication, →ISBN, page 470:When receiving a message like “We need to talk :(,” the emoticon implies that the conversation will involve bad or sad news. But a message like “I’m going to kill you :)” is most likely sarcastic. With text communication, in particular, it can be incredibly hard to understand intentionality — especially when there’s humor and sarcasm involved. Because of this, emoji and emoticons can be extremely useful to attach an element of feeling and emotion to the message.
2021 October 8, Ori Manor Zuckerman, “The Importance Of Subtext In Digital Communications”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 04 Jun 2025:A remark intended humorously is often indicated by the letter G in parentheses, for "grin," or by a sideways happy face built from punctuation marks. Such symbols are known as emoticons.
[1992 December 1, William Grimes, “Computer as a Cultural Tool: Chatter Mounts on Every Topic”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Jul 2021, page C13:
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A graphical representation of a particular emotion of the writer, used especially in SMS, email, or other electronic communication. ▸ An image or graphic icon used to represent such emotions; an emoji.
In addition to placing emoticons by clicking icons in the pop-up panel shown in Figure 4-2, you can enter the text representation in your text chat window. For example, to show the image of the emoticon with sunglasses, you enter (cool).
2007, Loren Abdulezer, Susan Abdulezer, Howard Dammond, Skype for Dummies, →ISBN, page 61:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| emoticons | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
assicon · verticon · kineticon · emoticonlike · emoticonic · emoticonized
Descendants
Relateds
emotag · emoji · Emoticons appendix · kaomoji
Translations (54)
lij morìn (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ja エモティコン (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sh emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sv smilis (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fr binette (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fr émoticone (representation of an emotion of the writer) · kk өңтаңба (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ga straoiseog (representation of an emotion of the writer) · eo miensimbolo (representation of an emotion of the writer) · da smiley (representation of an emotion of the writer) · he רִגְשׁוֹן (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fa شکلک (representation of an emotion of the writer) · pl emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · gl emoticona (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ru смайл (representation of an emotion of the writer) · hu hangulatjel (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fr émoticône (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fr frimousse (representation of an emotion of the writer) · fi hymiö (representation of an emotion of the writer) · kk эмотикон (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sv smajlis (representation of an emotion of the writer) · id emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sl smeško (representation of an emotion of the writer) · hy սմայլիկ (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ka სიცილაკი (representation of an emotion of the writer) · es emotícono (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ko 통보문그림기호 (representation of an emotion of the writer) · pt emoticon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · es emoticon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · lij facìn (representation of an emotion of the writer) · da emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ca emoticona (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sl čustvenček (representation of an emotion of the writer) · cmn 表情符號 /表情符号 (representation of an emotion of the writer) · mi tohukare (representation of an emotion of the writer) · it faccina (representation of an emotion of the writer) · kk күлегеш (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ru сма́йлик (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ro emoticon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · hy զմայլիկ (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ru эмотико́н (representation of an emotion of the writer) · es emoticono (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sv smilgubbe (representation of an emotion of the writer) · nl emoticon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · es emoticón (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ja 顔文字 (representation of an emotion of the writer) · hu emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ja 絵文字 (representation of an emotion of the writer) · he פַּרְצוּפוֹן (representation of an emotion of the writer) · ko 이모티콘 (representation of an emotion of the writer) · pl emotka (representation of an emotion of the writer) · pl emotikona (representation of an emotion of the writer) · de Emoticon (representation of an emotion of the writer) · sv emotikon (representation of an emotion of the writer)