glyph

[ glif ]

/ glɪf /

noun

a pictograph or hieroglyph.

a sculptured figure or relief carving.

Architecture. an ornamental channel or groove.

Nearby words

glyn, glyndebourne, glyoxaline, glyoxylate, glyoxylic acid, glyph, glyphography, glyphosate, glyptal, glyptic, glyptics

Origin of glyph

1720–30; < Greek glyph(ḗ) carving, derivative of glýphein to hollow out

Related forms

glyph·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for glyph

A classified list shows 28 compounds of this glyph, 20 of these showing the subfix, and combined with a face or other prefix.
Commentary Upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex|William E. Gates
The position of the month glyph in this text is most unusual.
An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs|Sylvanus Griswold Morley
An error of this kind is difficult to detect, because there is no indication in the text as to which glyph is the one at fault.
An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs|Sylvanus Griswold Morley
With graph and typ we may set a glyph (from glyph), an outsmoothing of a shape, as that of a figure from a block of stone.
An Outline of English Speech-craft|William Barnes

The day glyph is somewhat obscure, but contains a circular frame supported by a knot, while the month glyph is pretty surely Zac.
On the Age of Maya Ruins|Charles P. Bowditch

British Dictionary definitions for glyph

glyph

/ (ɡlɪf) /

noun

a carved channel or groove, esp a vertical one as used on a Doric frieze

rare another word for hieroglyphic

any computer-generated character regarded in terms of its shape and bit pattern

Derived Forms

glyphic, adjective

Word Origin for glyph

C18: from French glyphe, from Greek gluphē carving, from gluphein to carve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012