hieroglyph
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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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”),
.[1] By surface analysis, hiero- + glyph.
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Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhaɪ.ɹəˌɡlɪf/, /ˈhaɪ.ɹəʊˌɡlɪf/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhaɪɚ.əˌɡlɪf/, /ˈhaɪɚ.oʊˌɡlɪf/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: hie‧ro‧glyph, hier‧o‧glyph
Noun
hieroglyph (plural hieroglyphs)
- An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.
- Hieroglyphs were discovered on the wall inside the temple.
- (informal) Any obscure or baffling symbol.
- With your handwriting, it's no surprise the Prof can't read your hieroglyphs!
- 2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 9-10:
- "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."
Derived terms
Translations
element of hieroglyphic writing system
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Verb
hieroglyph (third-person singular simple present hieroglyphs, present participle hieroglyphing, simple past and past participle hieroglyphed)
- (transitive) To represent by hieroglyphs.
References
- James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 2, 177.
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