Hĭ'e-ro-glyph or Hĭ'e-ro-glyph'ic1, n.
n. [Fr. hiéroglyphe. See infra.]
Sense 1. A sacred character;—specifically, the picture-writing of the ancient Egyptian priests. It is made up of two classes of characters: one of these consists of symbols (sometimes called ideographs), representing ideas, not sounds, as an ostrich-feather is a symbol of truth; the other, of symbols (called phonetic), employed as syllables of a word, or as letters of the alphabet, with the sound, as a hawk represented the vowel a.
Hieroglyphics (from an Egyptian obelisk).
☞ This name has also been given to the picture-writing of the ancient Mexicans, by which they depicted the various occurrences of life.
Sense 2. Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have, a hidden or mysterious significance.
