hieroglyphic

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: hi=er=o=glyph=ic

CIDE DICTIONARY

hieroglyphic, n. [Cf. F. hiéroglyphe. See Hieroglyphic, a.].

•  A sacred character; a character used in picture writing, as of the ancient Egyptians, Mexicans, etc. Specifically, in the plural, the picture writing of the ancient Egyptian priests. It is made up of three, or, as some say, four classes of characters: first, the hieroglyphic proper, or figurative, in which the representation of the object conveys the idea of the object itself; second, the ideographic, consisting of symbols representing ideas, not sounds, as an ostrich feather is a symbol of truth; third, the phonetic, consisting of symbols employed as syllables of a word, or as letters of the alphabet, having a certain sound, as a hawk represented the vowel a.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have, a hidden or mysterious significance; hence, any unintelligible or illegible character or mark.

hieroglyphic, a. [L. hieroglyphicus, Gr. ; "iero`s sacred + gly`fein to carve: cf. F. hiéroglyphique.].

•  Emblematic; expressive of some meaning by characters, pictures, or figures; as, hieroglyphic writing; a hieroglyphic obelisk.  [1913 Webster]

  "Pages no better than blanks to common minds, to his, hieroglyphical of wisest secrets."  [1913 Webster]
•  Resembling hieroglyphics; not decipherable.  Sir W. Scott.  [1913 Webster]
•  of or pertaining to hieroglyphs.  [WordNet 1.5]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

hieroglyphic, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of or written in hieroglyphs.
2 symbolical.
--n. (in pl.) hieroglyphs; hieroglyphic writing.

Derivative

hieroglyphical adj. hieroglyphically adv.

Etymology

F hi{eacute}roglyphique or LL hieroglyphicus f. Gk hieroglyphikos (as HIERO-, gluphikos f. gluphe carving)

THESAURUS

hieroglyphic

alphabet, arrowhead, art, blueprint, character, charactering, characterization, chart, choreography, conventional representation, cuneiform, dance notation, delineation, demonstration, demotic character, depiction, depictment, determinative, diagram, drama, drawing, exemplification, figuration, grammalogue, hieratic symbol, hieroglyph, hieroglyphics, hiragana, iconography, ideogram, ideograph, illustration, imagery, imaging, kana, katakana, letter, limning, logogram, logograph, map, musical notation, notation, ogham, phonetic, phonetic symbol, pictogram, pictograph, picturization, plan, portraiture, portrayal, prefigurement, presentment, printing, projection, radical, realization, rendering, rendition, representation, rune, schema, score, script, shorthand, syllabary, symbol, tablature, wedge, word letter, writing

ROGET THESAURUS

hieroglyphic

Letter

N letter, character, hieroglyphic, type, capitals, digraph, trigraph, ideogram, ideograph, majuscule, minuscule, majuscule, minuscule, alphabet, ABC, abecedary, christcross-row, consonant, vowel, diphthong, triphthong, mute, liquid, labial, dental, guttural, syllable, monosyllable, dissyllable, polysyllable, affix, suffix, spelling, orthograph, phonography, phonetic spelling, anagrammatism, metagrammatism, cipher, monogram, anagram, doubleacrostic, literal, alphabetical, abecedarian, syllabic, majuscular, minuscular, uncial.

Writing

N writing, chirography, stelography, cerography, penmanship, craftmanship, quill driving, typewriting, writing, manuscript, MS, literae scriptae, these presents, stroke of the pen, dash of the pen, coupe de plume, line, headline, pen and ink, letter, uncial writing, cuneiform character, arrowhead, Ogham, Runes, hieroglyphic, contraction, Brahmi, Devanagari, Nagari, script, shorthand, stenography, brachygraphy, tachygraphy, secret writing, writing in cipher, cryptography, stenography, phonography, pasigraphy, Polygraphy, logography, copy, transcript, rescript, rough copy, fair copy, handwriting, signature, sign manual, autograph, monograph, holograph, hand, fist, calligraphy, good hand, running hand, flowing hand, cursive hand, legible hand, bold hand, cacography, griffonage, barbouillage, bad hand, cramped hand, crabbed hand, illegible hand, scribble, pattes de mouche, ill-formed letters, pothooks and hangers, stationery, pen, quill, goose quill, pencil, style, paper, foolscap, parchment, vellum, papyrus, tablet, slate, marble, pillar, table, blackboard, ink bottle, ink horn, ink pot, ink stand, ink well, typewriter, transcription, inscription, superscription, graphology, composition, authorship, cacoethes scribendi, graphoidea, graphomania, phrenoia, writer, scribe, amanuensis, scrivener, secretary, clerk, penman, copyist, transcriber, quill driver, stenographer, typewriter, typist, writer for the press, writing, written, in writing, in black and white, under one's hand, uncial, Runic, cuneiform, hieroglyphical, currente calamo, pen in hand, audacter et sincere, le style est l'homme meme, nature's noblest gift - my gray goose quill, scribendi recte sapere et principium et fons, that mighty instrument of little men, the pen became a clarion.

Representation

N representation, representment, imitation, illustration, delineation, depictment, imagery, portraiture, iconography, design, designing, art, fine arts, painting, sculpture, engraving, photography, cinematography, radiography, autoradiography, fluorography, sciagraphy, personation, personification, impersonation, drama, picture, photo, photograph, daguerreotype, snapshot, X-ray photo, movie film, movie, tracing, scan, TV image, video image, image file, graphics, computer graphics, televideo, closed-circuit TV, copy, drawing, sketch, drought, draft, plot, chart, figure, scheme, image, likeness, icon, portrait, striking likeness, speaking likeness, very image, effigy, facsimile, figure, figure head, puppet, doll, figurine, aglet, manikin, lay- figure, model, mammet, marionette, fantoccini, waxwork, bust, statue, statuette, ideograph, hieroglyphic, anaglyph, kanji, diagram, monogram, map, plan, chart, ground plan, projection, elevation (plan), ichnography, cartography, atlas, outline, scheme, view, radiograph, scotograph, sciagraph, spectrogram, heliogram, represent, representing, representative, illustrative, represented, imitative, figurative, iconic, like, graphic, cinquecento quattrocento, trecento.

VB copy, drawing, sketch, drought, draft, plot, chart, figure, scheme, image, likeness, icon, portrait, striking likeness, speaking likeness, very image, effigy, facsimile, figure, figure head, puppet, doll, figurine, aglet, manikin, lay- figure, model, mammet, marionette, fantoccini, waxwork, bust, statue, statuette, ideograph, hieroglyphic, anaglyph, kanji, diagram, monogram, map, plan, chart, ground plan, projection, elevation (plan), ichnography, cartography, atlas, outline, scheme, view, radiograph, scotograph, sciagraph, spectrogram, heliogram, V, represent, delineate, depict, depicture, portray, take a likeness, catch a likeness, hit off, photograph, daguerreotype, snapshot, figure, shadow forth, shadow out, adumbrate, body forth, describe, trace, copy, mold, dress up, illustrate, symbolize, paint, carve, engrave, personate, personify, impersonate, assume a character, pose as, act, play, mimic, hold the mirror up to nature.