a stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and certain other writing systems:hieroglyphs describing the Mayan calendar
a secret or incomprehensible symbol:the International Organisation for Standardization is introducing two new hieroglyphs to perplex washing-machine owners
Origin:
late 16th century: back-formation from hieroglyphic
hieroglyph in other Oxford dictionaries
Definition of hieroglyph in the US English dictionary
