\Hi"er*o*glyph\, Hieroglyphic \Hi`er*o*glyph"ic\, n.
[Cf. F. hi['e]roglyphe. See {Hieroglyphic}, a.]
1. A sacred character; a character in picture writing, as of
   the ancient Egyptians, Mexicans, etc. Specifically, in the
   plural, the picture writing of the ancient Egyptian
   priests. It is made up of three, or, as some say, four
   classes of characters: first, the hieroglyphic proper, or
   figurative, in which the representation of the object
   conveys the idea of the object itself; second, the
   ideographic, consisting of symbols representing ideas, not
   sounds, as an ostrich feather is a symbol of truth; third,
   the phonetic, consisting of symbols employed as syllables
   of a word, or as letters of the alphabet, having a certain
   sound, as a hawk represented the vowel a.
2. Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have,
   a hidden or mysterious significance; hence, any
   unintelligible or illegible character or mark. [Colloq.]