Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: hiéroglyphique, from Late Latin, from Greek, from hieros ( HIERARCHY) + glyphein 'to cut marks in a surface'

hieroglyphics

 noun
     
Related topics: Linguistics
hier‧o‧glyph‧ics [uncountable]
SL a system of writing that uses pictures to represent words
—hieroglyphic adjective:
hieroglyphic script
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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