represent in WordNet English dictionary

1. play a role or part
   "Gielgud played Hamlet"; "She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role"; "She played the servant to her husband's master"
   act  play  represent 
   
2. form or compose
   "This money is my only income"; "The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "These constitute my entire belonging"; "The children made up the chorus"; "This sum represents my entire income for a year"; "These few men comprise his entire army"
   constitute  represent  make up  comprise  be 
   
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 stands for an 's' in Latin"
   represent  stand for  correspond 
   
4. be the defense counsel for someone in a trial
   "Ms. Smith will represent the defendant"
   defend  represent 
   
5. be characteristic of
   "This compositional style is exemplified by this fugue"
   exemplify  represent 
   
6. create an image or likeness of
   "The painter represented his wife as a young girl"
   represent  interpret 
   
7. bring forward and present to the mind
   "We presented the arguments to him"; "We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason"
   present  represent  lay out 
   
8. to establish a mapping (of mathematical elements or sets)
   map  represent 
   
9. perform (a play), especially on a stage
   "we are going to stage `Othello'"
   stage  present  represent 
   
10. serve as a means of expressing something
    "The flower represents a young girl"
    represent 
    
11. express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol
    "What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize?"
    typify  symbolize  symbolise  stand for  represent 
    
12. point out or draw attention to in protest or remonstrance
    "our parents represented to us the need for more caution"
    represent 
    
13. describe or present, usually with respect to a particular quality
    "He represented this book as an example of the Russian 19th century novel"
    represent 
    
14. 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"
    represent 
    
15. be representative or typical for
    "This period is represented by Beethoven"
    represent