hieroglyphic
/ˌhaɪɹəˈɡlɪfɪk/
hieroglyphic means of, relating to, or written with such a system of symbols. It carries an Arena rating of 1361, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, hieroglyphic ranks #1,976 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,319 of 14,444 for Most Exacting Words, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,374 of 14,451 for Most Whimsical Words.
hieroglyphic is pronounced /ˌhaɪɹəˈɡlɪfɪk/.
Why “hieroglyphic” is a great word
A pictorial symbol, especially from the formal writing system of ancient Egypt, that can represent a sound, a syllable, or an idea, and by extension, anything enigmatic and difficult to decipher. From the Ancient Greek ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) and γλύφω (glúphō, “to carve, to engrave”), via Late Latin hieroglyphicus and French hiéroglyphique; first coined in English in 1726. Unlike a pictogram, which is a simple, universal picture of a thing, or a cipher, which is a code designed for secrecy, a hieroglyphic is a complex unit of a sacred script, its obscurity born of lost context. It is the hawk meaning a god, the reed leaf meaning a breath, the scarab meaning eternal return—stone words for the divine that, to the modern eye, become only beautiful, inscrutable puzzles, where every image holds a sound, and every sound brushes against eternity.
Etymology
First coined 1726, from French hiéroglyphique, from Latin hieroglyphicus, from Ancient Greek ἱερογλυφικός (hierogluphikós), from ἱερογλυφέω (hierogluphéō, “to represent hieroglyphically”), from ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) + γλύφω (glúphō, “to carve, to engrave, to cut out”). By surface analysis, hiero- + glyphic.
adj
- Of, relating to, or written with such a system of symbols.“the hieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt”
- Difficult to decipher.
noun
- A writing system of ancient Egypt, Minoans, Maya and other civilizations, using pictorial symbols to represent individual sounds, often as a rebus.
- Any symbol used in this system; a hieroglyph.“I must say, that, at the coronation, there was little vestige left as possible "of the charms that pleased a king." "She looked," Lady Mary Wortley said, "like an Egyptian mummy, wrought with hieroglyphics of gold."”
- Undecipherable handwriting or secret symbol.“Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisome asterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics.”
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