glyph

American  

[glif] / glɪf /

noun

1. a pictograph or hieroglyph.

2. a sculptured figure or relief carving.

3. Architecture. an ornamental channel or groove.

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glyph British  

/ ɡlɪf /

noun

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

2. rare another word for hieroglyphic

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

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Other Word Forms

• glyphic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of glyph

First recorded in 1720–30; from Greek glyph(ḗ) “a carving,” derivative of glýphein “to carve, hollow out”

Explanation

A glyph is a symbol — it can represent a word, letter, or number, and it can also be a mark that tells you how to pronounce a letter. In Spanish, the tilde — the wavy line in the letter ñ, as in the word señorita — is an example of a glyph. If a symbol or mark communicates a piece of valuable information, it's a glyph. In English, each of the letters of the alphabet is a glyph, and in German the character ß is also a glyph. In archaeology, this word is frequently used for any characters that are carved or inscribed in stone — a hieroglyph, an ancient Egyptian picture that represents a word, is one example of this. The Greek root glyphein means "to carve."

Example Sentences

The monument acknowledges this history via a ring of lights around the perimeter, each sporting a glyph representing a historical event.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2023

In one glyph, the Sak Tz’i’ ruler appears as the dancing Yopaat, a divinity associated with violent tropical storms.

From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2022

Only from the air does the layout finally resolve into an elegant glyph.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 21, 2022

In 1931 Cœdès concluded that the numeration system used in the inscribed date, 605, was decimal in nature and positional in conception and that the central glyph was an empty placeholder, a zero.

From Scientific American • Jul. 28, 2022

To a modern eye, Mayan glyph writing is about as alien-looking as you can get.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife