hieroglyphic
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L321896 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L337349 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˌhaɪɹəˈɡlɪfɪk/
adj
Etymology: First coined 1726, from French hiéroglyphique, from Latin hieroglyphicus, from Ancient Greek ἱερογλυφικός (hierogluphikós), from ἱερογλυφέω (hierogluphéō, “to represent hieroglyphically”), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) + γλύφω (glúphō, “to carve, to engrave, to cut out”). By surface analysis, hiero- + glyphic.
- Of, relating to, or written with such a system of symbols.
“the hieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt”
“a hieroglyphic obelisk”
- Difficult to decipher.
noun
Etymology: First coined 1726, from French hiéroglyphique, from Latin hieroglyphicus, from Ancient Greek ἱερογλυφικός (hierogluphikós), from ἱερογλυφέω (hierogluphéō, “to represent hieroglyphically”), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) + γλύφω (glúphō, “to carve, to engrave, to cut out”). By surface analysis, hiero- + glyphic.
- A writing system of ancient Egypt, Minoans, Maya and other civilizations, using pictorial symbols to represent individual sounds, often as a rebus.
- Any symbol used in this system; a hieroglyph.
“I must say, that, at the coronation, there was little vestige left as possible "of the charms that pleased a king." "She looked," Lady Mary Wortley said, "like an Egyptian mummy, wrought with hieroglyphics of gold."”
“The hieroglyphics or symbols, however, were reversed, just as though they had been pressed on wax.”
- Undecipherable handwriting or secret symbol.
“Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisome asterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics.”