Definition of "hieratic"

hieratic

/ˌhaɪ(ə)ˈɹætɪk/

adjective
not comparable
1. Of or pertaining to priests, 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.
  Quotations
  The papyrus was written in hieratic, a cursive form of hieroglyphics.
  2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 117
3. (art) Extremely stylized, restrained or formal; adhering to fixed types or methods; severe in emotional import.
  Quotations
  They came in among earth-moving machines, a total absence of trees, the usual hieratic geometry, and eventually, shimmying for the sand roads, down in a helix to a sculptured body of water named Lake Inverarity.
  1966, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York: Bantam Books, published 1976, page 37
noun
plural hieratics
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.