(1410s, by Andrei Rublev)]]This article is concerned with the religious images called icons, principally in Eastern Christianity; for other senses of this word see icon .An icon (from Greek , eikon, "image") is an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it, or by analogy, as in semiotics; by extension, icon is also used, particularly in modern popular culture, in the general sense of symbol — i.e. a name, face, pi