Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TO-KEN, n. [to'kn; Sax. tacn, tacen; Goth. taikns; D. teeken; Dan. tegn; Sw. teckn; G. zeichen. This may be the same word as the L. signum, dialectically varied, or from the same radix; Gr. δεικνυμι.]

1. A sign; something intended to represent or indicate another thing or an event. Thus the rainbow is a token of God's covenant established with Noah. The blood of the paschal lamb, sprinkled on the doors of the Hebrews, was a token to the destroying angel of God's will that he should pass by those houses. Gen. ix. Exod. xii. Show me a token for good. Ps. lxxxvi.
2. A mark. In pestilential diseases, tokens are livid spots upon the body, which indicate the approach of death. Cyc.
3. A memorial of friendship; something by which the friendship of another person is to be kept in mind. Shak.
4. In coinage, tokens were coins struck in the reign of Elizabeth in the cities of Bristol, Oxford and Worcester, and also by private persons, which were put into circulation, and upon being returned, the issuer gave the value of them in current money. Cyc.
5. In printing, ten quires of paper; an extra quire is usually added to every other token, when counted out for the press.