Definition of "hieratic" in English

adjective

1. Of or pertaining to priests or other religious authorities, especially pharaonic priests of Ancient Egypt.

2. Of or pertaining to the cursive writing system that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system as its ordinary handwritten counterpart.

3. (art) Extremely stylized, restrained or formal; adhering to fixed types or methods; severe in emotional import.

   • Some of the more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer curiously unmoved.

noun

1. (historical) 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.