1 ideogram | Definition of ideogram

ideogram

noun
ideo·​gram | \ ˈi-dē-ə-ˌgram How to pronounce ideogram (audio) , ˈī-\

Definition of ideogram

1 : a picture or symbol used in a system of writing to represent a thing or an idea but not a particular word or phrase for it especially : one that represents not the object pictured but some thing or idea that the object pictured is supposed to suggest
2 : logogram

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Other Words from ideogram

ideogramic or ideogrammic \ ˌi-​dē-​ə-​ˈgra-​mik How to pronounce ideogrammic (audio) , ˌī-​ \ adjective
ideogrammatic \ ˌi-​dē-​ō-​grə-​ˈma-​tik How to pronounce ideogrammatic (audio) , ˌī-​ \ adjective

Examples of ideogram in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Spanish filled the airwaves; the ideograms and characters of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Asian languages covered the store signs, sparking an angry nativist movement. Héctor Tobar, The New Yorker, "The Assassin Next Door," 22 July 2019 Derived from an ancient African writing system, the ideograms are an Ekpuk trademark. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, "This free, D.C.-wide festival includes an interactive selfie installation and a traveling art barge," 13 June 2019 And while there are tiny web and smartphones ideograms for everything from soup to nuts, there are very few that are specifically Jewish. Marcy Oster, sun-sentinel.com, "Organization is working to make a Torah emoji happen," 5 June 2019 Emojis might be connected in some respects to Egyptian hieroglyphs or Chinese ideograms. Crispin Sartwell, WSJ, "Texting and Twitter Make This a Golden Age for the Written Word," 22 Sep. 2017 The emoji is heir to a tradition of pictographic writing stretching back millennia to Egyptian hieroglyphics and the ideograms used to write Chinese and Japanese. Washington Post, "AP Interview: Japan’s emoji creator saw nuance in pictures," 21 Sep. 2017 There, Chinese kites shaped like Buzz Lightyear and Slinky Dog hung from the ceiling; Chinese ideograms identified the different kinds of pastry. Julie Lasky, New York Times, "At Shanghai Disney Resort, Mulan, Mickey and Dumplings," 4 July 2017 Of getting lost in who people think you are!’ A prizefighter’s journey is an existentialist ideogram for life, and the real fight, the real fifteen rounds, occurs in the heart, at home. Tad Friend, The New Yorker, "Liev Schreiber Finds the Heart of Chuck Wepner," 22 May 2017 No, not changing in a way that means the language is abandoning the alphabet and regressing back to ideograms Nick Stockton, WIRED, "Emoji—Trendy Slang or a Whole New Language?," 24 June 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ideogram.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of ideogram

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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More from Merriam-Webster on ideogram

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with ideogram

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about ideogram