Semantogram

Pronunciation

• IPA: sɪˈmæntəɡræm

Origin

From - + gram + -, thus literally "meaning drawing."

Full definition of semantogram

Noun

1. A symbol used solely for meaning, as when logographic Chinese symbols are used to represent the meaning of native Japanese words.
• 1978, Herbert Franke and Dennis Twitchett, "Introduction", in The Cambridge History of China http://books.google.com/books?id=iN9Tdfdap5MC, ISBN 0521243319, page 32:"the majority of Jurchen signs, which included both semantograms and phonograms, were inventions."

Synonyms

• semantograph
• ideograph

Related terms

• logogram
• phonogram