Definition of Hieratic

1. Noun. A cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphics; used especially by the priests.

Exact synonyms: Hieratic Script
Generic synonyms: Hieroglyph, Hieroglyphic
Specialized synonyms: Demotic, Demotic Script

2. Adjective. Associated with the priesthood or priests. "Hieratic gestures"

3. Adjective. Written or belonging to a cursive form of ancient Egyptian writing. "Hieratic Egyptian script"

4. Adjective. Adhering to fixed types or methods; highly restrained and formal. "The more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer curiously unmoved"
Category relationships: Beaux Arts, Fine Arts
Similar to: Nonrepresentational

Definition of Hieratic

1. a. Consecrated to sacred uses; sacerdotal; pertaining to priests.

Definition of Hieratic

1. Adjective. of or pertaining to priests, especially pharaonic priests of ancient Egypt; sacerdotal. ¹

2. Adjective. of or pertaining to the cursive writing system developed by ancient Egyptian priests alongside the hieroglyphic system. ¹

3. Adjective. (said of a work of art, literature, etc.) extremely stylized, restrained or formal; adhering to fixed types or methods; severe in emotional import. ¹

4. Noun. a writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that was developed alongside the hieroglyphic system, primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus, allowing scribes to write quickly without resorting to the time consuming hieroglyphs. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Hieratic

1. pertaining to priests [adj]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hieratic

hierarchical database
hierarchical menu
hierarchical structure
hierarchicalism
hierarchically
hierarchies
hierarchism
hierarchization
hierarchize
hierarchized
hierarchizes
hierarchizing
hierarchs
hierarchy
hierarchy of terms
hieratic (current term)
hieratic script
hieratical
hieratically
hieratite
hiermartyr
hiermartyrs
hiero-
hierocracies
hierocracy
hierocrat
hierocrats
hierodules
hieroglyph

Literary usage of Hieratic

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Mummy: Chapters on Egyptian Funereal Archaeology by Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge (1894)
"The Egyptians had three kinds of writing—Hieroglyphic, hieratic, ... hieratic, from the Greek /epart/cos, was a style of cursive writing ..."

2. The History of Herodotus: A New English Version by Herodotus, George Rawlinson (1880)
"hieratic and Demotic, the two sorts of letters written from right to left. 2. Hieroglyphics. 3. Three kinds of writing. 4. hieratic. 5. ..."

3. Handbook of Archæology: Egyptian--Greek--Etruscan--Roman by Hodder Michael Westropp (1878)
"Its temples, palaces, tombs, isolated monuments, present an infinite number of inscriptions in hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic characters. ..."

4. Prolegomena to Ancient History: Containing Part I.--The Interpretation of by John Pentland Mahaffy (1871)
"227) that hieratic was supplanted by demotic about 600 B. c. ... 276), that hieratic was as old as the fifth dynasty, and lasted till the days of the ..."

5. The Story of the Alphabet by Edward Clodd (1900)
"The demotic is derived from the hieratic, and the hieratic ^& ^ C from the hieroglyphic. jj> *•*•' ^* (a) Pictogram, ideogram, and FIG. 45. ..."

6. The Home and Foreign Review (1863)
"The first, and of course most difficult, steps in learning to read the hieratic character will be greatly facilitated by comparing the hieroglyphic text of ..."

7. The Literature of Egypt and the Soudan from the Earliest Times to the Year by Ibrahim-Hilmy (1888)
"The Fragments of the hieratic Papyrus at Turin ; containing the names of Egyptian Kings, with the hieratic Inscription at the back. Text 8vo. Plates fol. ..."

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