Hieratic word meaning and definition

[noun] a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphics; used especially by the priests
[adjective] (fine arts) adhering to fixed types or methods; highly restrained and formal; "the more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer curiously unmoved"
[adjective] written or belonging to a cursive form of ancient Egyptian writing; "hieratic Egyptian script"
[adjective] associated with the priesthood or priests; "priestly (or sacerdotal) vestments"; "hieratic gestures"

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

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