demotic

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The Word of the Day for May 31 is:

demotic   \dih-MAH-tik\   adjective
     1 : of, relating to, or written in a simplified form of the 
ancient Egyptian hieratic writing 
    *2 : popular, common 
     3 : of or relating to the form of Modern Greek that is 
based on everyday speech

Example sentence:
     The style of her art work is intentionally demotic, aimed 
at ordinary people rather than the elite of the art world.

Did you know? 
     You may recognize the root of "demotic" from words 
like "democracy" and "demography." The source of these words is 
the Greek word "demos," meaning "people." "Demotic" is 
often used of everyday forms of language (as opposed to literary 
or highbrow versions). It entered English in the early 1800s and 
originally designated a form of ancient Egyptian cursive script 
which by the 5th century BC had come into use everywhere in 
Egypt for business and literary purposes (in contrast to the 
more complex, hieratic script retained by the clergy). "Demotic" 
has a newer specialized sense as well, referring to a form of 
Modern Greek that is based on everyday speech and that since 
1976 has been the official language of Greece.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.