picture writing
Americannoun
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the art of recording events or expressing ideas by pictures, or pictorial symbols, as practiced by preliterate peoples.
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pictorial symbols forming a record or communication.
noun
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any writing system that uses pictographs
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a system of artistic expression and communication using pictures or symbolic figures
Etymology
Origin of picture writing
First recorded in 1735–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I think people sometimes picture writing as a pretty glamorous job people,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2023
He sent Teal a picture, writing in a message: “Please tell me this is the ring so I can finally get off this beach.”
From Seattle Times • Aug. 20, 2022
Times film critic Kenneth Turan made the case for why “Black Panther” should win best picture, writing, “‘Black Panther’ not only enriched America’s movie culture, but also opened eyes all over the world.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2019
Its antecedents go all the way back to prehistoric picture writing, with such variations along the way as the anagrams of early Christian monks, Apollinaire's Calligrammes, and the alphabet drawings of Painter Paul Klee.
From Time Magazine Archive
“No, that Martian picture writing, it wasn’t anything. Let it go!”
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
