ideograph

American  

[id-ee-uh-graf, ahy-dee-] / ˈɪd i əˌgræf, ˈaɪ di- /

noun

1. ideogram.

2. Rhetoric. an ordinary language term that, within a particular ideology, has developed a loose, flexible, nonspecific use that stands for values and ideas present within that ideology, rather than having a specific, concrete meaning.

   In the training materials, is used as an ideograph to reinforce the military hierarchy.

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Other Word Forms

• ideographic adjective
• ideographical adjective
• ideographically adverb
• unideographic adjective
• unideographical adjective
• unideographically adverb

Etymology

Origin of ideograph

First recorded in 1825–35; ideo- + -graph

Explanation

A symbol that represents an idea or a thing, rather than the sounds of a word, is called an ideograph. A smiley face emoji is an ideograph that represents happiness. Many street signs are ideographs, meant to convey a specific meaning without using any words. "Pedestrian crossing" might be a graphic representation of people walking, and "No smoking" is usually a picture of a cigarette inside a circle with a line through it. Hieroglyphics and cuneiform are mainly ideographs, and so are mathematical symbols and emoji. Ideograph combines the Latin idea with graph, "instrument for writing."

Example Sentences

The way I do drought is it’s a big circle of fabric, and the drought is symbolized by the most simple, reduced ideograph of pulling that circle through the floor hole.

From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022

The ideograph, in Japanese brush painting, is finding “How do you do a whole bamboo forest in three brush strokes?”

From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022

I looked for what I call an ideograph, which is to take the entire concept of the story—a road movie, what is that?

From Slate • Sep. 30, 2020

Japanese propagandists would soon have their own ideograph for the precise, mild-mannered Pennsylvania Dutchman who is impatient to get the war over so he can go sailboating.

From Time Magazine Archive

I walked putting heel down first, toes pointing outward thirty to forty degrees, making the ideograph “eight,” making the ideograph “human.”

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston