From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_154_ahieroglyphicshier‧o‧glyph‧ics /ˌhaɪrəˈɡlɪfɪks/ noun [plural, uncountable] SLpictures and symbols used to represent words or parts of words, especially in the ancient Egyptian writing system —hieroglyphic adjective hieroglyphic script
Examples from the Corpus
hieroglyphics• First, as with many civilizations, came hieroglyphics.• The language was foreign, the writing a cloud of indecipherable hieroglyphics.• He studied it until its hieroglyphics yielded their true meaning: scratches.• The rest were a jumble of hieroglyphics and strange signs.• I learned to read the galley proofs and familiarised myself with printers' hieroglyphics.• They wore helmets suggestive of the heads of flies, and their black silks were embroidered with arcane silver hieroglyphics.• Paper poured out in a long road, paved with hieroglyphics.Origin hieroglyphics (1500-1600) French hiéroglyphique, from Late Latin, from Greek, from hieros ( → HIERARCHY) + glyphein “to cut marks in a surface” 