1. A characteristic sign or indication of the existence of something else: "The affair is a symptom of a global marital disturbance; it is not the disturbance itself" (Maggie Scarf). See synonyms at sign.
2. A sign or an indication of disorder or disease, especially when experienced by an individual as a change from normal function, sensation, or appearance.

[Middle English sinthoma, symptom of a disease, from Medieval Latin sinthōma, from Late Latin symptōma, from Greek sumptōma, sumptōmat-, a happening, symptom of a disease, from sumpiptein, sumptō-, to coincide : sun-, syn- + piptein, to fall.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.