adjective
- Also hi·er·o·glyph·i·cal. designating or pertaining to a pictographic script, particularly that of the ancient Egyptians, in which many of the symbols are conventionalized, recognizable pictures of the things represented.
- inscribed with hieroglyphic symbols.
- hard to decipher; hard to read.
noun
- Also hi·er·o·glyph. a hieroglyphic symbol.
- Usually hieroglyphics. hieroglyphic writing.
- a figure or symbol with a hidden meaning.
- hieroglyphics, handwriting, figures, characters, code, etc., difficult to decipher: the confusing hieroglyphics of advanced mathematics.
adjective Also: hieroglyphical
- of or relating to a form of writing using picture symbols, esp as used in ancient Egypt
- written with hieroglyphic symbols
- difficult to read or decipher
noun Also: hieroglyph
- a picture or symbol representing an object, concept, or sound
- a symbol or picture that is difficult to read or decipher
1590s, shortening of hieroglyphic (n.), 1590s; see hieroglyphic.
1580s (adj. and n.), from Late Latin hieroglyphicus, from Greek hieroglyphikos “hieroglyphic; of Egyptian writing,” from hieros “sacred” (see ire) + glyphe “carving,” from glyphein “to carve” (see glyph). Plutarch began the custom of using the adjective (ta hieroglyphika) as a noun.