hieroglyph

The story

1. Egyptian · derived frommdw-nṯr“the god’s word”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromἱερογλυφικός
3. Late Latin · derived fromhieroglyphicus
4. Middle French · derived fromhiéroglyphique
5. English todayhieroglyph

First attested around 1598, a back-formation from hieroglyphic (1580s), from Middle French hiéroglyphique, from Late Latin hieroglyphicus, from Ancient Greek ἱερογλυφικός (hierogluphikós) (Plutarch τά ἱερογλυφικά [γράμματα] "hieroglyphic [writing]), ἱερόγλυφος (hierógluphos, “carver of hieroglyphs”) (Ptolemy), a compound of ἱερός (hierós, “sacred, holy”) and γλυφή (gluphḗ, “carved work”), a calque of Egyptian mdw-nṯr (“the god’s word”), nTr-md. By surface analysis, hiero- + glyph.

Words from the same roots