the.com/pictograph

A word drawn instead of spelled, because some ideas predate the alphabet's ego.

means A symbol or picture that represents a word, idea, or concept directly, rather than spelling out sounds the way letters do.

from Built from Latin 'pictus' (painted, from 'pingere,' to paint) plus Greek 'graphein' (to write or scratch), it yokes two ancient arts together — painting and writing — to name something older than either as a separate craft, back when a drawing of a bull simply meant 'bull.'

origin
cave walls were the first infographics
modern form
every bathroom door sign ever
vs hieroglyph
pictographs show things, not sounds
data twist
bar charts made of tiny icons count too
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