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hieroglyphic |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Hieroglyph \Hi"er*o*glyph\, Hieroglyphic \Hi`er*o*glyph"ic\, n. [Cf. F. hi['e]roglyphe. See {Hieroglyphic}, a.] 1. 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. 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.] From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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.] 1. Emblematic; expressive of some meaning by characters, pictures, or figures; as hieroglyphic writing; a hieroglyphic obelisk. Pages no better than blanks to common minds, to his hieroglyphical of wisest secrets. --Prof. Wilson. 2. Resembling hieroglyphics; not decipherable. ``An hieroglyphical scrawl.'' --Sir W. Scott. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: hieroglyphic adj 1: resembling hieroglyphic writing [syn: {hieroglyphical}] 2: written in or belonging to a writing system using pictorial symbols [syn: {hieroglyphical}] n 1: writing that resembles hieroglyphics (usually by being illegible) [syn: {hieroglyph}] 2: a writing system using picture symbols; used in ancient Egypt [syn: {hieroglyph}]
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