ideograph

1 of 2

noun

ideo·​graph ˈi-dē-ə-ˌgraf 

ˈī-

: ideogram

ideographic

ˌi-dē-ə-ˈgra-fik 

ˌī-

adjective

ideographically

ˌi-dē-ə-ˈgra-fi-k(ə-)lē 

ˌī-

adverb

ideographic

2 of 2

adjective

ideo·​graph·​ic

-fēk

1

: consisting of or characterized by the use of ideograms

an ideographic script

the ideographic stage in the development of writing

2

: being an ideogram

an ideographic sign

3

: of or relating to an ideogram

these characters had sometimes an ideographic, and sometimes a phonetic value

—David Diringer

ideographically

-fə̇k(ə)lē 

-fēk-, 

-li

adverb

Examples of ideograph in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

To integrate that useful principle into his encoding scheme, Zhi decided to index characters by their components—the simpler characters within each ideograph—using the first letter of each component’s pinyin spelling. —Jing Tsu, Wired, 23 Jan. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

ideo- + -graphic

First Known Use

Noun

1835, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1822, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ideograph

• autograph
• biograph
• cenotaph
• chronograph
• epigraph
• epitaph
• hodograph
• holograph
• hydrograph
• lithograph
• micrograph
• monograph

Kids Definition

ideograph

noun

ideo·​graph ˈīd-ē-ə-ˌgraf 

ˈid-

: ideogram

ideographic

ˌīd-ē-ə-ˈgraf-ik 

ˌid-

adjective

ideographically

-ˈgraf-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb