adj
Meaning 1
Of or for the common people.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- demotic writing style
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: colloquial, informal, popular, vernacular
Antonyms: formal
Standard Lemma guide
demotic
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /dɪˈmɒt.ɪk/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: /dɪˈmɑ.tɪk/
adj
Meaning 2
Of, relating to, or written in the ancient Egyptian script that developed from Lower Egyptian hieratic writing starting from around 650 BCE and was chiefly used to write the Demotic phase of the Egyptian language, with simplified and cursive characters that no longer corresponded directly to their hieroglyphic precursors.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: enchorial
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Of, relating to, or written in the form of modern vernacular Greek.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- demotic Greek
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
The demotic Egyptian script, used from c. 650 BCE to 452 CE.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 5
The demotic Egyptian language, spoken from c. 650 BCE to 400 BCE.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Language as spoken or written by the common people.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
Examples
- Near-synonym: vernacular
- 2010, John C. Wells, accents map Note the intrusion into British demotic (“me and Cheryl were having”) of the valley-girl quotative be, like.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: vernacular
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 7
of or written in or belonging to the form of modern Greek based on colloquial use
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
of or for the common people
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- demotic entertainments
- demotic speech
- a poet with a keen ear for demotic rhythms
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
the modern Greek vernacular
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Romaic
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Modern Greek, New Greek
noun
Meaning 10
a simplified cursive form of the ancient hieratic script
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Demotic script was eventually replaced by Greek
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Demotic script
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hieratic, hieratic script
History
Etymology
First attested in 1822, from Ancient Greek δημοτικός (dēmotikós, “common”), from δημότης (dēmótēs, “commoner”), from δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people”).
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: на простолюдието (na prostoljudieto) — of or for the common people
- Finnish: kansanomainen — of or for the common people
- Finnish: demoottinen — of or for the common people
- Finnish: rahvaanomainen — of or for the common people
- Greek: κοινός (koinós) — of or for the common people
- Hungarian: népi — of or for the common people
- Hungarian: népies — of or for the common people
- Irish: coiteann — of or for the common people
- Romanian: demotic — of or for the common people
- Russian: наро́дный (naródnyj) — of or for the common people
- Russian: простонаро́дный (prostonaródnyj) — of or for the common people
- Swedish: demotisk — of or for the common people
- Catalan: demòtic — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Czech: démotický — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Finnish: demoottinen — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- French: démotique — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- German: demotisch — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Irish: coiteann — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Russian: демоти́ческий (demotíčeskij) — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Spanish: demótico — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Swedish: demotisk — of the cursive ancient Egyptian script
- Finnish: demootinen — of modern vernacular Greek
- French: démotique — of modern vernacular Greek
- Greek: δημοτικός (dimotikós) — of modern vernacular Greek
- Greek: δημώδης (dimódis) — of modern vernacular Greek
- Irish: coiteann — of modern vernacular Greek
- Russian: димоти́ческий (dimotíčeskij) — of modern vernacular Greek
- Spanish: demótico — of modern vernacular Greek
- German: Umgangssprache — language of the common people
Real reading context