Definition:
- (a.) A sacred character; a character 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.
- (a.) Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have, a hidden or mysterious significance; hence, any unintelligible or illegible character or mark.
- (a.) Alt. of Hieroglyphical
Compare hieroglyphic with other words:
hieroglyphic vs. hieroglyphically
hieroglyphic vs. hieroglyphical
hieroglyphic vs. pictogram
hieratic vs. hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic vs. secret
handwriting vs. hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic vs. undecipherable
hieroglyphic vs. rebus
hieroglyphic vs. sound
hieroglyphic vs. represent
hieroglyphic vs. symbol
hieroglyphic vs. pictorial
civilization vs. hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic vs. maya
hieroglyphic vs. system
hieroglyphic vs. writing
hieroglyph vs. hieroglyphic
cacography vs. hieroglyphic