pictograph

American  

[pik-tuh-graf, -grahf] / ˈpɪk təˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

1. a pictorial sign or symbol.

2. a record consisting of pictorial symbols, as a prehistoric cave drawing or a graph or chart with symbolic figures representing a certain number of people, cars, factories, etc.

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pictograph British  

/ ˈpɪktəˌɡrɑːf, ˌpɪktəˈɡræfɪk, pɪkˈtɒɡrəfɪ, -ˌɡræf /

noun

1. a picture or symbol standing for a word or group of words, as in written Chinese

2. a chart on which symbols are used to represent values, such as population levels or consumption

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Other Word Forms

• pictographic adjective
• pictographically adverb
• pictography noun

Etymology

Origin of pictograph

1850–55; < Latin pict ( us ) painted ( see picture) + -o- + -graph

Explanation

A pictograph is a picture or image that represents a word or a phrase. A sign with the shape of a dog inside a circle and a slash drawn through it is a pictograph that means "no dogs allowed." Anything that conveys information using just pictures can be called a pictograph. When you click on an icon on your computer, that's a pictograph, and when you text an emoji to your friend, that's another kind of pictograph. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and early Chinese characters are also pictographs, or symbols that represent various words. Pictograph comes from the Latin pictus, "painted," and the Greek graphe, "writing."

Example Sentences

Together, the roof and the tower give the chapel a beguiling silhouette that can suggest anything from a giant pictograph to an abstract sculpture.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

More specifically, because I read some signs, I can tell you that the petroglyphs are more than 2,000 years old, and also that a petroglyph is cut into stone; a pictograph is painted on stone.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2024

I’ve lost my appetite for cricket, so I tap on the pictograph of a lab-generated wrap produced from plant cells and lamb genes, then scan my hand.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2022

It is totally unrelated to the Chinese name “Xi,” which is a Latin-alphabet representation of a pictograph that is pronounced like the English feminine pronoun “she.”

From Washington Times • Nov. 28, 2021

Immediately above the site of Alton, Ill., they came in sight of the famous Piasa pictograph, which was totally destroyed about fifty years ago.

From Explorers and Travellers by Greely, Adolphus W.