what is a glyph

A glyph is any kind of purposeful mark that conveys information nonverbally. It can refer to a graphic symbol that provides the appearance or form for a character in information technology, or a picture or symbol that represents a word in some writing systems, such as the one used in ancient Egypt. In typography, a glyph is "the specific shape, design, or representation of a character". Alphabetic glyphs represent letters of the alphabet, numeric glyphs denote numbers, and symbol glyphs represent items such as punctuation marks, mathematical and currency symbols. The shape of a glyph is its most obvious feature and can be used to convey meaning, such as the difference between a capital "A" and a lowercase "a". Glyphs are very recognizable because they are often used in a consistent manner.