Meanings
plural glyphs
- Any of various figures used in Mayan writing.
1 more example
human figures carved on the obverse and the reverse, and glyphs on the other faces. Slab-stelæ, on the other hand, are shorter and most of them bear inscriptions only on the reverse. Frequently associated with these stelæ are smaller monoliths known as "altars," which vary greatly in size, shape, and decoration, some bearing glyphs and others being without them.
1915, Sylvanus Griswold Morley, An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs, Chapter 2
- Any non-verbal symbol that imparts information.
- A land snail of the genus Glyphyalinia
- Any of various black-and-white noctuid moths with figural-like wing patterns, such as those in Protodeltote, Deltote, and Maliattha.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekγλυφή“carving”
- Frenchglyphe
- Englishglyph
First attested in 1727. Borrowed from French glyphe, from Ancient Greek γλυφή (gluphḗ, “carving”), from γλύφω (glúphō, “I carve, engrave”).
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian символ, глиф
- символ (simvol)graphic representation of a character
- глиф (glif)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Catalan glif
- glifgraphic representation of a character
Chinese Mandarin 字形, 字形
- 字形 (zìxíng)graphic representation of a character
- 字形 (zìxíng)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- 字體 /字体 (zìtǐ)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Dutch schriftteken
- schrifttekengraphic representation of a character
Esperanto signobildo
- signobildographic representation of a character
Finnish symboli, glyyfi
- symbolinon-verbal symbol imparting information
- glyyfigraphic representation of a character
- glyyficarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- kirjoitusmerkkicarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- symbolicarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
French glyphe
- glyphecarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
German Glyphe, Zeichen
- Glyphegraphic representation of a character
- Zeichencarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- Symbolcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Greek γλύφος
- γλύφος (glýfos)graphic representation of a character
Hungarian íráselem, véset
- íráselemgraphic representation of a character
- vésetvertical groove
- horonyvertical groove
- gliphévertical groove
- rovátkoló díszítésvertical groove
- jelcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- írásjelcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- írásjegycarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- szimbólumcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Italian glifo
- glifocarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Japanese 字体
- 字体 (jitai)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Korean 자체
- 자체 (jache)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Polish hieroglif
- hieroglifcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Portuguese glifo
- glifocarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Russian глиф, глиф
- глиф (glif)graphic representation of a character
- глиф (glif)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- знак (znak)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- си́мвол (símvol)carved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Spanish glifo, glifo
- glifographic representation of a character
- glifocarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Turkish glif, oyma
- glifcarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
- oymacarved relief representing a sound, word or idea
Vietnamese ký tự
- ký tựgraphic representation of a character
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with glyph
Cite this entry
glyph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glyph
“glyph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glyph. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glyph,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glyph.
Source: glyph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.