'picture-symbol' originates from modern English, combining the words 'picture' and 'symbol', where 'picture' ultimately comes from Latin 'pictura' (from 'pingere', to paint) and 'symbol' comes from Latin 'symbolum' via Greek 'symbolon' meaning 'token' or 'sign'.

'picture' entered English via Old French and Middle English from Latin 'pictura'; 'symbol' entered English from Old French/Latin and earlier from Greek 'symbolon'. The compound 'picture-symbol' is a modern descriptive formation in English that joins two existing nouns to describe a pictorial sign.

Initially the elements referred separately to 'an image' and 'a sign; token'; combined as 'picture-symbol' it came to mean specifically a pictorial sign or icon used to represent meaning concisely.