1. Be a delegate or spokesperson for; represent somebody's interest or be a proxy or substitute for, as of politicians and office holders representing their constituents, or of a tenant representing other tenants in a housing dispute
   "I represent the silent majority"
    
2. Express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol
   "What does the Statue of Liberty represent?";
   - typify, symbolize, symbolise [Brit], stand for, symbol [archaic]
    
3. Take the place of or be parallel or equivalent to
   "Because of the sound changes in the course of history, an 'h' in Greek represents an 's' in Latin";
   - stand for, correspond
    
4. Be representative or typical for
   "This period is represented by Beethoven"
    
5. Be typical of
   "This compositional style is represented by this fugue";
   - exemplify
    
6. Serve as a means of expressing something
   "The flower represents a young girl"
    
7. Tell or show, often with explanation and alternatives
   "We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason";
   - present, lay out
    
8. Create an image or likeness of
   "The painter represented his wife as a young girl";
   - interpret
    
9. Perform a role or part
   "She wants to represent Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role";
   - act, play
    
10. (performing arts) perform (a play), especially on a stage
    "The company represented Shakespeare's Hamlet";
    - stage, present
     
11. Be the defence counsel for someone in a trial
    "Ms. Smith will represent the defendant";
    - defend
     
12. Form or compose
    "This sum represents my entire income for a year";
    - constitute, make up, comprise, be
     
13. Describe or present, usually with respect to a particular quality
    "He represented this book as an example of the Russian 19th century novel"
     
14. Point out or draw attention to in protest or remonstrance
    "our parents represented to us the need for more caution"
     
15. To establish a mapping (of mathematical elements or sets)
    "They represented the data using a complex algorithm";
    - map

Derived forms: represents, representing, represented

Type of: be, bring, commute, depict, describe, draw, embody, equal, exist, express, give tongue to, inform, institute, intend, mean, permutate [rare], permute, personify, point out, recreate, re-create, remonstrate, say, serve, state, tell, transpose, utter, verbalise [Brit], verbalize

Encyclopedia: Represent