Crossword clues for hieratic
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.
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.).
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"pertaining to sacred things," 1650s (implied in hieratical), from Latin hieraticus, from Greek hieratikos "pertaining to a priest or his office, priestly," from hierateia "priesthood," from hiereus "priest," from hieros "sacred, holy, hallowed; superhuman, mighty; divine" (see ire).
Wiktionary
a. 1 of or pertaining to priests, especially pharaonic priests of ancient Egypt; sacerdotal. 2 of or pertaining to the cursive writing system developed by ancient Egyptian priests alongside the hieroglyphic system. 3 (said of a work of art, literature, etc.) extremely stylized, restrained or formal; adhering to fixed types or methods; severe in emotional import. n. 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.
WordNet
n. a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphics; used especially by the priests [syn: hieratic script]
adj. associated with the priesthood or priests; "priestly (or sacerdotal) vestments"; "hieratic gestures" [syn: priestly, hieratical, sacerdotal]
written or belonging to a cursive form of ancient Egyptian writing; "hieratic Egyptian script"
adhering to fixed types or methods; highly restrained and formal; "the more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer curiously unmoved"
Wikipedia
Hieratic (Greek hieratika; literally "priestly") is a cursive writing system used in the provenance of the pharaohs in Egypt and Nubia. It developed alongside cursive hieroglyphs, from which it is separate yet intimately related. It was primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus, allowing scribes to write quickly without resorting to the time-consuming hieroglyphs.
Usage examples of "hieratic".
But I have seen pictures in books of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and I should like very much to see hieratic writing someday, and to know how it is different.
Urim and Thummim were given to Joseph Smith to help him decipher the hieratic writing, one assumes these magical jewels might have been supposed to aid something like clear vision and increased understanding.
Goetz accept the social order which made him an outcast, he also claims the hieratic morals that go with it.
It is not the metaphysical problem of the existence of a divinity that concerns Sartre, it is the psychological and ethical implications of a hieratic way of thinking.
The Egyptians also wrote from right to left in the hieratic and demotic and enchorial styles.
In writing numbers in the hieratic and enchorial the units were placed to the left.
It consists of eighteen pieces in Egyptian hieratic writing, ascribed to about the year B.
She had the cold withdrawnness, the almost hieratic decorum, of all Keepers.
But now the sun had set, and in the flickering golden light of torches the court, lined on three sides by tiers of pillared galleries, seemed awesome, hieratic, redolent of ancientness and power.
American hieroglyphs peculiar signs which take the place of pictures, and which probably, like the hieratic symbols mingled with the hieroglyphics of Egypt, represent alphabetical sounds.
When--he died his collections remained, and they still remain, as his record in the hieratic language of science.
An Indian who was leaning over the brazier rose upright, his two hands in the air, his elbows bent, and all at once we saw arising, all black on the immense white cliff, a colossal shadow, the shadow of Buddha in his hieratic posture.
Looking at that hawk-like profile bent over the hieratic ivory figures on the board, he wondered if Ish had understood how high gambling stakes could run.
They try to be poker-faced, solemn, hieratic, aloof, but they cannot conceal the simple joy our presence brings them.
On the steps of a small temple, a round little man in hieratic garb was arguing vehemently with a plump old woman.