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Circuit elements as drawn in schematics and wiring diagrams.
Circuit symbols are standardised, but by more than one standard: IEC and ANSI conventions differ visibly for several common components, most notoriously the resistor. Identify which convention a diagram follows before reading it.
These records say so themselves — the setting appears in the symbol's own reviewed description or in one of its documented meanings.
A stem branching into two upward diagonals.
Its summary places it there: “…is elaborated, but the plain V is what most schematics use”
Alternating long and short parallel lines, marking a cell or battery.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…three-pair symbol meant a three-cell battery. Modern schematics generally draw two pairs regardless of the actual…”
A triangle pointing at a bar, marking a diode.
Its summary places it there: “…by the bar in the other. It is one of the few schematic symbols that explains itself”
A small circle on a lead marking active-low behaviour.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…single most consequential small mark in a digital schematic, because ignoring one inverts the logic of everything…”
A diode symbol with two arrows pointing away, marking a light-emitting diode.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…pointing away from the diode body, a general schematic convention meaning radiation leaving a component”
A resistor in a circle with two arrows pointing at it.
Its summary places it there: “…arrows pointing towards it, the arrows being the schematic convention for incident light. The same pair…”
A circle on a stem, converting sound into signal.
Its summary places it there: “…the mirror of the loudspeaker's job. Where a schematic uses the same outline for both, the direction…”
A circle containing the letter M, marking an electric motor.
Its summary places it there: “…to a family of lettered circles used across schematics — G for generator, V for voltmeter, A for ammeter…”
A plain rectangle in the control circuit, with a reference letter.
Its summary places it there: “…contacts are drawn in different places on a schematic — the coil in the control circuit, the contacts…”
A coil beside a switch, showing a circuit that a second circuit operates.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…because the two are often in different parts of a schematic and are genuinely isolated from each other”
A zigzag or a plain rectangle in a circuit, marking a resistor.
Its summary places it there: “…resistor is drawn as a zigzag in North American schematics and as a plain rectangle under IEC practice…”
A dashed rectangle around part of a circuit.
Its summary places it there: “A dashed box around part of a schematic marks a shielded or grouped assembly rather than…”
A two-dimensional script recording handshape, movement and facial expression.
Its summary places it there: “…as stars and dots, and facial expression in a schematic face. It is written in two dimensions rather…”
A coil marked as producing mechanical movement.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Appears in fluid-power and control schematics as the electrical operator on a valve, connecting…”
A break in a wire bridged by a hinged line, marking a switch.
Its summary places it there: “…that swings to make or break the connection. Schematics show it in its resting state, which is a convention…”
A small marked node intended for measurement.
Its summary places it there: “…made accessible for measurement, marked on the schematic and usually on the board. It carries no circuit…”
An OR gate with a second curved line across its back.
Its summary places it there: “…it is easily lost on a photocopied or scanned schematic”
These belong to a system or a curated family that lives here. A laundry care symbol is met on a clothing label whether or not its own wording happens to say so.
A line with two angled leads inside a circle, one carrying an arrow.
Two parallel lines across a break in a wire, marking a capacitor.
A rectangle with a line through it, marking a fuse.
A row of humps or a filled rectangle in a wire, marking an inductor.
A circle with a cross inside it, marking a lamp or indicator.
Two coils facing each other across parallel lines, marking a transformer.
If you can describe what you saw as well as where, say both: “winged skull on a gravestone” narrows a list of 23 to a handful.