hieroglyph

noun
/ˈhaɪ.ɹəˌɡlɪf/UK/ˈhaɪɚ.əˌɡlɪf/US

Etymology

First attested around 1598, a back-formation from hieroglyphic (1580s), from Middle French hiéroglyphique, from Late Latin hieroglyphicus, from Ancient Greek ἱερογλυφικός (hierogluphikós) (Plutarch τά ἱερογλυφικά [γράμματα] "hieroglyphic [writing]), ἱερόγλυφος (hierógluphos, “carver of hieroglyphs”) (Ptolemy), a compound of ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) and γλυφή (gluphḗ, “carved work”), a calque of Egyptian mdw-nṯr (“the god’s word”), nTr-md. By surface analysis, hiero- + glyph.

  1. derived from mdw-nṯr
  2. derived from hieroglyphicus
  3. derived from hiéroglyphique

Definitions

  1. An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.

    • Hieroglyphs were discovered on the wall inside the temple.
    • Mayan Hieroglyphs as Linguistic Evidence. In Third Palenque Round Table, 1978, vol. V, part 2, edited by Merle Greene Robertson, pp. 204-216.
  2. Any obscure or baffling symbol.

    • With your handwriting, it's no surprise the Prof can't read your hieroglyphs!
  3. To represent by hieroglyphs.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for hieroglyph. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA