Emoji (Japanese: 絵文字えもじ; Japanese pronunciation: [emodʑi]) are the ideograms or smileys used in Japanese electronic messages and webpages, the use of which is spreading outside Japan. Originally meaning pictograph, the wordemoji literally means "picture" (e) + "character" (moji). The characters are used much like ASCII emoticons orkaomoji, but a wider range is provided, and the icons are standardized and built into the handsets.