ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Hieroglyphic', Synonyms of 'Hieroglyphic' & More on 'Hieroglyphic'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

hieroglyphic
    adj 1: resembling hieroglyphic writing [syn: hieroglyphic,
           hieroglyphical]
    2: written in or belonging to a writing system using pictorial
       symbols [syn: hieroglyphic, hieroglyphical]
    n 1: writing that resembles hieroglyphics (usually by being
         illegible) [syn: hieroglyph, hieroglyphic]
    2: a writing system using picture symbols; used in ancient Egypt
       [syn: hieroglyph, hieroglyphic]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hieroglyphic \Hi`er*o*glyph"ic\, Hieroglyphical
\Hi`er*o*glyph"ic*al\, a. [L. hieroglyphicus, Gr. ?; "iero`s
   sacred + gly`fein to carve: cf. F. hi['e]roglyphique.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. 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.     --Prof.
                                                  Wilson.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Resembling hieroglyphics; not decipherable. "An
      hieroglyphical scrawl." --Sir W. Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. of or pertaining to hieroglyphs. [WordNet sense 1]
      [WordNet 1.5]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hieroglyph \Hi"er*o*glyph\, Hieroglyphic \Hi`er*o*glyph"ic\, n.
   [Cf. F. hi['e]roglyphe. See Hieroglyphic, a.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. 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]

   2. Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have,
      a hidden or mysterious significance; hence, any
      unintelligible or illegible character or mark. [Colloq.]
      Hieroglyphic

Thesaurus Results for Hieroglyphic:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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

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