pictograph

[ pik-tuh-graf, -grahf ]

/ ˈpɪk təˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pictograph ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a pictorial sign or symbol.

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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Nearby words

Origin of pictograph

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

Related formspic·to·graph·ic

[pik-tuh-graf-ik] /ˌpɪk təˈgræf ɪk/, adjectivepic·to·graph·i·cal·ly, adverb

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

Examples from the Web for pictographic

Neither do his pictographic dramas have any resemblance to the covers from which his characters hail.
Pulp Fictions|Philip Gefter|September 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The figure at the base of the pictographic painting represents the mammoth whale upon whose back the whole creation rests.
Indian Legends of Vancouver Island|Alfred Carmichael
Pictographic writing, which is so well known among the Micmacs, was also practised by the Passamaquoddies.
Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore|J. Walter Fewkes
Pictographic messages are used whenever a certain norm or rule has to be observed.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin

Finally, the schematic representation and notation of ideas so far as we can perceive was alphabetic rather than pictographic.
Men of the Old Stone Age|Henry Fairfield Osborn
To this many add a pictographic record of great events or of camps they have visited.
Woodland Tales|Ernest Seton-Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for pictographic

pictograph

/ (ˈpɪktəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf) /

noun

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

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

Derived Formspictographic (ˌpɪktəˈɡræfɪk), adjectivepictography (pɪkˈtɒɡrəfɪ), noun

Word Origin for pictograph

C19: from Latin pictus, from pingere to paint

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

Word Origin and History for pictographic

pictograph

"picture or symbol representing an idea," 1851, from Latin pictus "painted," past participle of pingere "to paint" (see paint (v.)) + -graph "something written." First used in reference to American Indian writing. Related: Pictography.