ideographyn.
/ˌɪdɪˈɒɡrəfi/, /ˌʌɪdɪˈɒɡrəfi/, U.S. /ˌɪdiˈɑɡrəfi/, /ˌaɪdiˈɑɡrəfi/ The use of graphic signs representing concepts, as distinguished from alphabetic letters or phonetic symbols; writing consisting of ideographs.
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society > communication > writing > system of writing > [noun] > thought-writing
ideography1836
word-writing1843
thought-writing1860
notion-writing1863
1836 T. How (title) Ideagraphy: being a complete system.
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. Ideography, a system or treatise of short-hand writing.
1847 J. Fancutt (title) Idiography: a system of short-hand writing, on the basis of grammar, and the various analogies which form the idiom of language.
1861 Sat. Rev. 14 Sept. 278 An erudite introduction upon North American ‘Ideography’.
1870 F. W. Farrar Families of Speech iv. 162 They invented writing, but it stopped at hieroglyphics and ideography.
1960 tr. S. Moscati Face of Anc. Orient i. 16 After its initial phase the development of writing is more or less parallel in the two valleys: from drawings, pictography, to conventionalized figures, ideography.
1999 H. Y. Jung in F. R. Dallmayr Border Crossings xii. 282 In very significant measure, Chinese ideography is the choreography of human gestures.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1836