 The term "symbolist" was first applied by the critic Jean Moréas, who invented the term to distinguish the Symbolists from the related Decadents of literature and of art.Distinct from, but related to, the style of literature, symbolism in art is related to the gothic component of Romanticism and Impressionism.The term "symbolism" is derived from the word "symbol" which derives from the Latin "symbolum", a symbol of faith, and "symbolus", a sign of recognition, in turn from classical Greek σύμβολον "symbolon", an object cut in half constituting a sign of recognition when the carriers were able to reassemble the two halves.