'glyph-like' is a compound of 'glyph' + the adjectival suffix '-like'. 'glyph' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'glyphē' (from the verb 'glyphein'), where 'glyphein' meant 'to carve'. The element '-like' originates from Old English 'lic', where 'lic' meant 'having the form or appearance of'.

'glyph' entered English via Latin and French borrowings from Greek 'glyphein/glyphē' in later medieval periods; the productive suffix '-like' has been used in English since Old and Middle English (from 'lic') to form adjectives, and the modern compound 'glyph-like' is formed in Modern English by combining these elements.

Initially, the root 'glyph' referred specifically to a carving or engraved mark ('to carve'); combined with '-like' it originally meant 'resembling a carved mark' and has come to mean more broadly 'resembling a glyph or stylized symbol'.