symbolism /sim″bəlizəm/ , 1. the representation or evocation of one idea, action, or object by the use of another, as in systems of writing, poetic language, or dream metaphor. 2. (in psychiatry) an unconscious mental mechanism characteristic of all human thinking in which a mental image stands for but disguises some other object, person, or thought, especially one associated with emotional conflict. The mechanism is a principal factor in the formation of dreams and in various symptoms resulting from such anxious and psychotic conditions as conversion reactions, obsessions, and compulsions. Also called symbolization.
