Link Centre Dictionary

hieroglyphic

hie·rog·lyp·hic

UK/ˌhaɪɹəˈɡlɪfɪk/ US/ˌhaɪroʊˈɡlɪfɪk/ uncommon

adjective

1.

resembling hieroglyphic writing

2.

written in or belonging to a writing system using pictorial symbols

noun

1.

writing that resembles hieroglyphics (usually by being illegible)

Synonyms
2.

a writing system using picture symbols; used in ancient Egypt

Synonyms

Origin

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.

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Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.