“Emblematize” is formed by pairing the adjective “emblematic” (meaning “of, relating to, or constituting an emblem”) with the verb-creating suffix “-ize.” In today’s English, “emblem” commonly means “an object or the figure of an object symbolizing and suggesting another object or an idea” — a dove can be an emblem for peace, for example. But in Latin, “emblēma” referred to inlaid pavement or an inlaid relief design on the inside of a bowl. In the early 16th century, an Italian scholar borrowed the Latin word as a name for a specific kind of writing pairing an image with a set of instructional verses. This was the beginning of a specific genre of books that contained emblems: “a picture with a motto or set of verses intended as a moral lesson.”