Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
HIEROGLYPH
hieroglyph, hieroglyphic
(noun) a writing system using picture symbols; used in ancient Egypt
hieroglyph, hieroglyphic
(noun) writing that resembles hieroglyphics (usually by being illegible)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
hieroglyph (plural hieroglyphs)
An element of an ideographic (hieroglyphic) writing system.
(informal) Any obscure or baffling symbol.
Verb
hieroglyph (third-person singular simple present hieroglyphs, present participle hieroglyphing, simple past and past participle hieroglyphed)
To represent by hieroglyphs.
Source: Wiktionary
Hi"er*o*glyph, Hi`er*o*glyph"ic, n. Etym: [Cf. F. hiéroglyphe. See Hieroglyphic, a.]
1. A sacred character; a character in picture writing, as of the ancient Egyptians, Mexicans, etc. Specifically, in the plural, the picture writing of the ancient Egyptian priests. It is made up of three, or, as some say, four classes of characters: first, the hieroglyphic proper, or figurative, in which the representation of the object conveys the idea of the object itself; second, the ideographic, consisting of symbols representing ideas, not sounds, as an ostrich feather is a symbol of truth; third, the phonetic, consisting of symbols employed as syllables of a word, or as letters of the alphabet, having a certain sound, as a hawk represented the vowel a.
2. Any character or figure which has, or is supposed to have, a hidden or mysterious significance; hence, any unintelligible or illegible character or mark. [Colloq.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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HERMAPHRODITE
(noun) one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
Coffee Trivia
