hieratic

  1. Adjective.  of or pertaining to priests, especially pharaonic priests of ancient Egypt; sacerdotal.
  2. Adjective.  of or pertaining to the cursive writing system developed by ancient Egyptian priests alongside the hieroglyphic system.
  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.
  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.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.