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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

hieroglyph.

An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.

10 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈhaɪ.ɹəˌɡlɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhaɪ.ɹəʊˌɡlɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhaɪɚ.əˌɡlɪf/General-American/ˈhaɪɚ.oʊˌɡlɪf/General-American
  1. An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system.

    Hieroglyphs were discovered on the wall inside the temple.
  2. An element (individual sign or glyph) of a hieroglyphic writing system. In particular, an Egyptian hieroglyph.

  3. Any obscure or baffling symbol.

    informal
    With your handwriting, it's no surprise the Prof can't read your hieroglyphs!
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈhaɪ.ɹəˌɡlɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhaɪ.ɹəʊˌɡlɪf/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhaɪɚ.əˌɡlɪf/General-American/ˈhaɪɚ.oʊˌɡlɪf/General-American
  1. To represent by hieroglyphs.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.