iconicity.

Resemblance between a sign's form and what it represents, rather than an entirely arbitrary connection.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• linguistic iconicity
• visual iconicity
• iconicity in gesture

On the page

The diagram's iconicity comes from the way its arrows reproduce the route.

The study compares iconicity in spoken words and hand gestures.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW explicitly defines correspondence between form and meaning; directly read supporting semiotic examples. Current examples also use cultural-icon status, but that second scope is not independently defined in fetched content; flagged instead of invented. Individually useful in research, criticism, methodology or conceptual analysis. Definitions and examples are original; no mood or intensity assigned to neutral analytical concepts. Commonness is an editorial estimate, not a frequency statistic. Writing functions: non-arbitrary sign relationships, form representing an action or meaning.