noun
- written characters or symbols that represent entire words or concepts rather than individual sounds
Usage: linguistics; writing systems
Examples
- Chinese characters are examples of logographs that represent whole words or ideas.
- Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs included many logographs alongside phonetic symbols.
- The symbol & is a logograph representing the word ‘and’ in English.
- Students studying linguistics learn about the difference between logographs and alphabetic writing.
- Many road signs use logographs so they can be understood internationally.
- The development from logographs to alphabetic systems marked a major advancement in writing.