Eidographs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Symbols or characters representing the individual features or forms of particular concepts; distinctive marks used to denote specific ideas or objects; unique graphical signs that identify separate elements in a set
2. Characters or signs that express the particular traits or distinctive nature of concepts; graphic representations used to differentiate between entities; individualized symbols signifying unique characteristics in a system
3. Specific signs or marks illustrating the separate qualities or identities of notions; graphical indicators that distinguish one item from another; characteristic emblems used to represent diverse individual aspects

Etymology: "Eidographs" is the plural of "eidograph", a noun for a symbol that stands for an idea rather than a sound. The singular is built from Ancient Greek "eidos", meaning "form" or "shape", and the suffix "-graph", from "graphein", "to write" or "to draw". Together they describe writing that expresses concepts through the form of the mark itself, which is why the term sits naturally beside words like "ideograph" and "logogram" in discussions of writing systems. Much of the core Greek element survives in English through related words: "eidos" gave the philosophical term "eidos" in Plato's usage for the ideal, unchanging form behind things, a link that helps explain why a term for idea-symbols draws on it. The plural "eidographs" simply refers to more than one such symbol, as in a script made up of many of them.

Synonyms: typographical symbols, glyphs