different between demonic vs demotic

English

Alternative forms

• daemonic (dated), dæmonic (dated)

Etymology

From Latin daemonicus, from Ancient Greek ?????????? (daimonikós, “possessed by a demon, sent by a demon”), from ?????? (daím?n). Doublet of daimonic.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: d?m?'n?k, IPA^(key): /d??m?n?k/
• Rhymes: -?n?k

Adjective

demonic (comparative more demonic, superlative most demonic)

1. Pertaining to demons or evil spirits; demoniac.

   Convinced that his uncle was a warlock, he rifled through his attic, looking for demonic artifacts.

   Once he had grasped the controls, he unleashed a demonic laugh that made his hostages shudder.

2. Pertaining to dæmons in ancient Greek thought; concerning supernatural ‘genius’.
   • 1999, Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, I:

     Aristotle concedes that the nature of the dream is indeed daemonic [transl. dämonischer], but not divine – which might well reveal a profound meaning, if one could hit on the right translation.

Synonyms

• demonish
• demonlike
• demonly

Related terms

• demon
• demoniac
• demoniacal

Translations

Anagrams

• McIndoe, cnidome, ecnomid, incomed

English

Etymology

First attested in 1822, from Ancient Greek ????????? (d?motikós, “common”), from ??????? (d?mót?s, “commoner”), from ????? (dêmos, “the common people”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?.?m?.t?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d?.m?.t?k/

Adjective

demotic (not comparable)

1. Of or for the common people.

   Synonyms: colloquial, informal, popular, vernacular

   Antonym: formal
2. Of, relating to, or written in the ancient Egyptian script that developed from Lower Egyptian hieratic writing starting from around 650 B.C.E. 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.

   Synonym: enchorial

   Coordinate term: abnormal hieratic

3. Of, relating to, or written in the form of modern vernacular Greek.

Derived terms

• demoticist

Related terms

• Demotic Greek
• demotist

Translations

Noun

demotic (plural demotics)

1. (linguistics) Language as spoken or written by the common people.
   • 2010, John C. Wells, accents map

     Note the intrusion into British demotic (“me and Cheryl were having”) of the valley-girl quotative be, like.

Translations

Further reading

• demotic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “demotic”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.