Ideogram

An ideogram or ideograph (from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Greek</a> idéa 'idea' + gráphō 'to write') is a <a href="/facts/Symbol/GS8mTn0h">symbol</a> that is used within a given <a href="/facts/Writing_system/ABG251A0">writing system</a> to represent an <a href="/facts/Idea/zK4ar1yv">idea</a> or concept in a given language. (Ideograms are contrasted with <a href="/facts/Phonogram_(linguistics)/HbQQXvXx">phonograms</a>, which indicate sounds of speech and thus are independent of any particular language.) Some ideograms are more arbitrary than others: some are only meaningful assuming preexisting familiarity with some convention; others more directly resemble their <a href="/facts/Signified/4Wsp96M2">signifieds</a>. Ideograms that represent physical objects by visually illustrating them are called <a href="/facts/Pictogram/6HmoV1u6">pictograms</a>.

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Numeral_system/1KKlG4nd">Numerals</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_mathematical_symbols/rQkbGGna">mathematical symbols</a> are ideograms, for example ⟨1⟩ 'one', ⟨2⟩ 'two', ⟨+⟩ 'plus', and ⟨=⟩ 'equals'.</li>
<li>The <a href="/facts/Ampersand/emmXUXuB">ampersand</a> ⟨&⟩ is used in many languages to represent the word and, originally a stylized <a href="/facts/Ligature_(writing)/urMIGfmN">ligature</a> of the <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> word et.</li>
<li>Other typographical examples include ⟨§⟩ 'section', ⟨€⟩ 'euro', ⟨£⟩ 'pound sterling', and ⟨©⟩ 'copyright'.</li></ul>

Ideogram open-in-new

Ideogram