Rare term used to refer to kanji characters in contrast to kana. Not commonly used in modern Japanese; more typical words are 漢字 (kanji) or 真名 (mana).
In old documents, kanji are sometimes written as 古文字.
Another archaic term for kanji, often contrasted with 仮名 (kana). 古文字 is even rarer.
Compound of 古 (old) and 文字 (character, script). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it likely arose as a way to distinguish traditional Chinese characters from the newer kana syllabaries.