Gift vs. Token

Something given to another voluntarily, without charge.

A talent or natural ability.

Example: ‘She had a gift for playing the flute.’;

Something gained incidentally, without effort.

The act, right, or power of giving or bestowing.

Example: ‘The office is in the gift of the President.’;

(transitive) To give as a gift or donation.

(transitive) To give away, to concede easily.

Anything given; anything voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation; a present; an offering.

Example: ‘Shall I receive by gift, what of my own, . . .I can command ?’;

The act, right, or power of giving or bestowing; as, the office is in the gift of the President.

A bribe; anything given to corrupt.

Example: ‘Neither take a gift, for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise.’;

Some exceptional inborn quality or characteristic; a striking or special talent or aptitude; power; faculty; as, the gift of wit; a gift for speaking.

A voluntary transfer of real or personal property, without any consideration. It can be perfected only by deed, or in case of personal property, by an actual delivery of possession.

To endow with some power or faculty. See gift{4}.

Example: ‘He was gifted . . . with philosophical sagacity.’;

something acquired without compensation

natural qualities or talents

the act of giving

give qualities or abilities to

give as a present; make a gift of;

Example: ‘What will you give her for her birthday?’;

A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given.

Something serving as an expression of something else.

Example: ‘According to the Bible, the rainbow is a token of God's covenant with Noah.’;

A keepsake.

Example: ‘Please accept this bustier as a token of our time together.’;

A piece of stamped metal or plastic, etc., used as a substitute for money; a voucher that can be exchanged for goods or services.

Example: ‘Subway tokens are being replaced by magnetic cards.’; ‘A book token is the easiest option for a Christmas gift.’;

A small physical object, often designed to give the appearance of a common thing, used to represent a person or character in a board game or other situation.

Example: ‘Everyone pick a token (hat, wheelbarrow, thimble, etc.) and place it on the Start square.’;

A minor attempt for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement.

Example: ‘His apology was no more than a token.’;

A member of a group of people that is included within a larger group to comply with a legal or social requirement.

Evidence, proof; a confirming detail; physical trace, mark, footprint.

Support for a belief; grounds for an opinion.

An extraordinary event serving as evidence of supernatural power.

An object or disclosure to attest or authenticate the bearer or an instruction.

A seal guaranteeing the quality of an item.

Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith.

A tally.

(philosophy) A particular thing to which a concept applies.

(computing) An atomic piece of data, such as a word, for which a meaning may be inferred during parsing.

(computing) A conceptual object that can be possessed by a computer, process, etc. in order to regulate a turn-taking system such as a token ring network.

(computing) A meaningless placeholder used as a substitute for sensitive data.

(grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.

(corpus linguistics) A single example of a certain word in a text or corpus.

(medical) A characteristic sign of a disease or of a bodily disorder, a symptom; a sign of a bodily condition, recovery, or health.

A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.

(printing) Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.

(mining) A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.

(mining) A thin bed of coal indicating the existence of a thicker seam at no great distance.

(rail transport) A physical object used for exchange between drivers and signalmen on single track lines.

(weaving) In a loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.

(Church of Scotland) A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Done as an indication or a pledge.

Perfunctory or merely symbolic; done or existing for appearance's sake, or to minimally comply with a requirement.

Example: ‘He made a token tap on the brake pedal at the stop sign.’;

(of people) Included in minimal numbers in order to create an impression or illusion of diversity, especially ethnic or gender diversity.

Example: ‘He was hired as the company's token black person.’; ‘The television show was primarily directed toward a black audience, but it did have a few token white people as performers.’;

To betoken, indicate, portend, designate, denote

To betroth

(philosophy) To symbolize, instantiate

Something intended or supposed to represent or indicate another thing or an event; a sign; a symbol; as, the rainbow is a token of God's covenant established with Noah.

A memorial of friendship; something by which the friendship of another person is to be kept in mind; a memento; a souvenir.

Example: ‘This is some token from a never friend.’;

Something given or shown as a symbol or guarantee of authority or right; a sign of authenticity, of power, good faith, etc.

Example: ‘Say, by this token, I desire his company.’;

A piece of metal intended for currency, and issued by a private party, usually bearing the name of the issuer, and redeemable in lawful money. Also, a coin issued by government, esp. when its use as lawful money is limited and its intrinsic value is much below its nominal value.

A livid spot upon the body, indicating, or supposed to indicate, the approach of death.

Example: ‘Like the fearful tokens of the plague,Are mere forerunners of their ends.’;

Ten and a half quires, or, commonly, 250 sheets, of paper printed on both sides; also, in some cases, the same number of sheets printed on one side, or half the number printed on both sides.

A piece of metal given beforehand to each person in the congregation who is permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper.

A bit of leather having a peculiar mark designating a particular miner. Each hewer sends one of these with each corf or tub he has hewn.

In a Jacquard loom, a colored signal to show the weaver which shuttle to use.

To betoken.

an individual instance of a type of symbol;

Example: ‘the word`error' contains three tokens of `r'’;

a metal or plastic disk that can be used (as a substitute for coins) in slot machines

something of sentimental value

insignificantly small; a matter of form only (`tokenish' is informal);

Example: ‘the fee was nominal’; ‘a token gesture of resistance’; ‘a tokenish gesture’;