ideography

American  

[id-ee-og-ruh-fee, ahy-dee-] / ˌɪd iˈɒg rə fi, ˌaɪ di- /

noun

1. the use of ideograms.

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ideography British  

/ ˌɪdɪˈɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. the use of ideograms to communicate ideas

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Etymology

Origin of ideography

First recorded in 1830–40; ideo- + -graphy

Example Sentences

The logical extension of what we have, joined with a use of the ideas which the Chinese ideography furnishes us, will render the special invention and promulgation of a Universal Character wholly superfluous.

From Popular scientific lectures by Mach, Ernst

Philology, comparing the languages of earth in their radicals, must therefore include the graphic or manual presentation of thought, and compare the elements of ideography with those of phonics.

From Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-1880, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 263-552 by Mallery, Garrick

The history of human intellectual development shows that humanity always passes through the stage of ideography or pictography before attaining that of cursive writing.

From Five Years of Theosophy by Various

Nevertheless, long usage has induced some degree of ideography and symbolism.

From The Mide'wiwin or "Grand Medicine Society" of the Ojibwa Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 143-300 by Hoffman, Walter James