[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/hieroglyph/)

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# hieroglyph

noun (a hieroglyph, hieroglyphs)

«hieroglyph» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A picture or symbol used for writing, especially in ancient Egypt, where little drawings of birds, eyes and other things stood for sounds or words. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#m1)
2. (informal) Writing that is very hard to read. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history lessons, children learn that the Rosetta Stone helped people read Egyptian hieroglyphs again. They write their names in hieroglyphs. The Maya of Central America also used glyphs. Phrases: Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Rosetta Stone.

### Examples

- Ancient Egyptians wrote with hieroglyphs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x1)
- The Rosetta Stone helped scholars read hieroglyphs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x2)
- Each hieroglyph can stand for a sound or an idea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x3)
- We wrote our names in hieroglyphs on paper scrolls. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x4)
- Hieroglyphs were carved on the walls of tombs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x5)
- My brother's handwriting looks like hieroglyphs! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x6)
- The first of the stories actually written down, were written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, or on Babylonian cakes of clay, three or four thousand years before our time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/#x7)

### Note

Countable. Also hieroglyphic (adjective, or noun mostly plural: hieroglyphics). Pronounced HY-ruh-glif. Myth: hieroglyphs are not only pictures of things; many stand for sounds.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hieroglyph» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hieroglyph/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hieroglyph» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hieroglyph.html) on Mova free.