pictograph

[ pik-tuh-graf, -grahf ]

noun

1. a pictorial sign or symbol.
2. a record consisting of pictorial symbols, as a prehistoric cave drawing or a graph or chart with symbolic figures representing a certain number of people, cars, factories, etc.

pictograph

/ ˈpɪktəˌɡrɑːf; ˌpɪktəˈɡræfɪk; pɪkˈtɒɡrəfɪ; -ˌɡræf /

noun

1. a picture or symbol standing for a word or group of words, as in written Chinese
2. a chart on which symbols are used to represent values, such as population levels or consumption

Derived Forms

• pictography, noun
• pictographic, adjective

Other Words From

• pic·to·graph·ic [pik-t, uh, -, graf, -ik], adjective
• picto·graphi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of pictograph¹

1850–55; < Latin pict ( us ) painted ( picture ) + -o- + -graph

Word History and Origins

Origin of pictograph¹

C19: from Latin pictus, from pingere to paint

Example Sentences

“So that leads back to the tribe’s pictographs, where we have beavers.”

From Los Angeles Times

About 60 percent include important historical sites like battlefields, memorials, and historical homes, as well as the continent's prehistory: ancient dwellings, petroglyphs, and pictographs from earlier cultures.

From National Geographic Kids

Haring made uninflected linear drawings almost exclusively glyphs and pictographs, like Paleolithic cave art with an agitated urban edge.

From Los Angeles Times

As they scrutinize the material, they notice everywhere a curious abbreviation, JoR, along with complex configurations of geometric shapes and cryptic pictographs.

From Washington Post

They look like enigmatic maps, with floating pictographs and tracks — Smith’s response to professors who emphasized abstraction.

From New York Times