Hieratic

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hieratic \Hi`er*at"ic\, a. [L. hieraticus, Gr. "ieratiko`s; akin
     to "iero`s sacred: cf. F. hi['e]ratique.]
     Consecrated to sacred uses; sacerdotal; pertaining to
     priests.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {Hieratic character}, a mode of ancient Egyptian writing; a
        modified form of hieroglyphics, tending toward a cursive
        hand and formerly supposed to be the sacerdotal character,
        as the demotic was supposed to be that of the people.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It was a false notion of the Greeks that of the
              three kinds of writing used by the Egyptians, two --
              for that reason called hieroglyphic and hieratic --
              were employed only for sacred, while the third, the
              demotic, was employed for secular, purposes. No such
              distinction is discoverable on the more ancient
              Egyptian monuments; bur we retain the old names
              founded on misapprehension.           --W. H. Ward
                                                    (Johnson's
                                                    Cyc.).
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hieratic
       adj 1: associated with the priesthood or priests; "priestly (or
              sacerdotal) vestments"; "hieratic gestures" [syn: {priestly},
               {hieratical}, {sacerdotal}]
       2: written or belonging to a cursive form of ancient Egyptian
          writing; "hieratic Egyptian script"
       3: adhering to fixed types or methods; highly restrained and
          formal; "the more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer
          curiously unmoved"
       n : a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphics; used especially by
           the priests [syn: {hieratic script}]