hieroglyph en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈhaɪ.ɹəˌɡlɪf/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈhaɪɚ.oʊˌɡlɪf/ (General-American)
- /ˈhaɪɚ.əˌɡlɪf/ (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈhaɪ.ɹəʊˌɡlɪf/ (Received-Pronunciation)
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.
Meanings
-
An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.
Some idea of the nature of Mayan hieroglyphs has already been gained from the sets of day-signs and month-signs. In the opinion of the writer, Mayan hieroglyphs are among the best examples of calligraphy; each glyph block is a composition exhibiting remarkable qualities of design.
1924, Herbert Joseph Spinden, The Reduction of Mayan Dates, page 15: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.
1986, Victoria Reifler Bricker, A Grammar of Mayan Hieroglyphs:
- An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system. ▸ In particular, an Egyptian hieroglyph.
-
(informal) Any obscure or baffling symbol.
"There are SCPs with antimemetic properties," Marion goes on. "There are ideas which cannot be spread. There are entities and phenomena which harvest and consume information, particularly information about themselves. You take a Polaroid photo of one, it'll never develop. You write a description down with a pen on paper and hand it to someone— but what you've written turns out to be hieroglyphs, and nobody can understand them, not even you. You can look directly at one and it won't even be invisible, but you'll still perceive nothing there."
2015 January 30, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 9-10:With your handwriting, it's no surprise the Prof can't read your hieroglyphs!
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hieroglyphs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
hieroglyphist · hieroglyphical · hieroglyphic
Translations (68)
he הִירוֹגְלִיף (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · tk iýeroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ja 象形文字 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · km វត្ថុលេខនា (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sh hijeroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · kk иероглиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · uz iyeroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sl hieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · be іеро́гліф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ru иеро́глиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · cmn 圖畫文字 /图画文字 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ky иероглиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · fy hiëroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · uk ієро́гліф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · fi hieroglyfi (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ga iairiglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sv hieroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · hu hieroglifa (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · nl hiëroglief (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ko 히에로글리프 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · hi हीयेरोग्लिफ़ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · my အရုပ်စာ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · hy հիերոգլիֆ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · af hiëroglief (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · tr hiyeroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · be геро́гліф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ko 상형문자 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · cmn 聖書體 /圣书体 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ka იეროგლიფი (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · pt hieróglifo (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ast xeroglíficu (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · lt hieroglifas (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · pl hieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ar هِيرُوغْلِيفِيَّة (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ja 聖刻 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · az heroqlif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · fa هیروگلیف (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · oc ieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · th ไฮโรกลิฟ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · bg йерогли́ф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · nb hieroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · tl heroglipiko (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · cmn 象形文字 (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · mk хиероглиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ca jeroglífic (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · et hieroglüüf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sk hieroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · eo hieroglifo (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · it geroglifico (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · id hieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · de Hieroglyphe (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ja ヒエログリフ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · gl xeroglífico (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · el ιερογλυφικός (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · vi chữ tượng hình (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · fr hiéroglyphe (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sq hieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · haw lalinoka (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · bn হায়ারোগ্লিফ (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · tg иероглиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · es jeroglífico (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ro hieroglifă (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · da hieroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · gl xeróglifo (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · lv hieroglifs (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · cs hieroglyf (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · sh хијероглиф (element of hieroglyphic writing system) · ms hieroglif (element of hieroglyphic writing system)