from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Hieroglyph \Hi"er*o*glyph\, Hieroglyphic \Hi`er*o*glyph"ic\, n.
[Cf. F. hi['e]roglyphe. See {Hieroglyphic}, a.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A sacred character; a character used 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.
[1913 Webster]
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.]
Hieroglyphic