What is a one-word synonym for "religious symbol"?
Examples:
The Cross, Star of David, Khanda, etc.
Alternatively, if such a word does not exist, a neologism would suffice. Here is a casual conversation context:
"Can anyone name the religious symbol in the middle of the diagram?"
My reasons for seeking a synonym are brevity, cadence, and intrigue. Though I don't mind a multisyllabic synonym/neologism.
Best Answer
I have some suggestions. The first, 'hierogram', is not a neologism, and on the whole strikes me as the best option:
["hierogram, n.". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/86816?redirectedFrom=hierogram (accessed March 04, 2016).]
The OED Online definition matches the definition found in Collins English Dictionary.
[hierogram. (n.d.) Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. (1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014). Retrieved March 4 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hierogram ]
My other suggestions, 'Tetragrammaton' and 'symbol', do not seem as suited to the question. 'Tetragrammaton' was sometimes used with the general figurative sense of
["Tetragrammaton, n.". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/199850?redirectedFrom=tetragrammaton (accessed March 05, 2016).]
This word is only considerable because the question specified that a neologism might be acceptable. Reviving the obsolete and rare figurative use of 'Tetragrammaton' would be neologistic and, additionally, might risk confusion with the extant sense, which is much more detailed and specific, and so not particularly suitable as an answer for the question:
(op. cit.)
The other suggestion, 'symbol', does not seem to answer the question, for obvious reasons (the request was for a 'religous symbol', and 'symbol' is currently used with a much broader denotation), although the earliest uses of 'symbol' were specific to 'religious symbols':
["symbol, n.1". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/196197?rskey=1gOSeD&result=1&isAdvanced=false (accessed March 05, 2016).]
Disambiguation: 'hierogram', 'hieroglyph', 'hierograph'
Some confusion about the uses of 'hierogram', 'hieroglyph' and 'hierograph' became evident in the comments on this answer. Of the three, 'hierogram' is the only one used with the general and primary sense of 'a sacred symbol' (as shown in the definitions given above). 'Hierogram' is sometimes used, in technical contexts, to mean 'hieroglyph', but that is a secondary sense confined to specialized uses with reference to, specifically, a subset of hieroglyphs regarded as sacred.
'Hieroglyph', in contrast, refers to
[hieroglyph. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved March 5 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hieroglyph ]
'Hieroglyph' does not denote sacredness, and has no necessary connotation of sacredness.
'Hierograph', on the other hand, does denote sacredness, but is used specifically to denote sacred writing, characters, or inscriptions:
[Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. S.v. "hierograph." Retrieved March 5 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hierograph ]
Another definition, from OED Online, where the close relationship between 'hierographs' and 'hieroglyphs' is made plain,
["hierograph, n.". OED Online. December 2015. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/86819?redirectedFrom=hierograph (accessed March 05, 2016).]