English
demotic
Demotic comes from Ancient Greek δημοτικός ‘common’, and goes back to δῆμος.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμος1dêmos‘the common people’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημότης1dēmótēs‘commoner’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοτικός1dēmotikós‘common’
- Englishearliest quotation 2014demotic1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English demotic
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Rupert Christiansen, English translations rarely sing: “Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςWiktionary, English demoticdêmos‘the common people’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημότηςWiktionary, English demoticdēmótēs‘commoner’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδημοτικόςWiktionary, English demoticdēmotikós‘common’
- Englishearliest quotation 2014demoticWiktionary, English demotic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Rupert Christiansen, English translations rarely sing: “Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat…”
first attested First attested in 1822, from Ancient Greek δημοτικός (dēmotikós, “common”), from δημότης (dēmótēs, “commoner”), from δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in 1822, from Ancient Greek δημοτικός (dēmotikós, “common”), from δημότης (dēmótēs, “commoner”), from δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people”).
Linked words
through Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘the common people’
academic, democracy, democratic, democrat, pandemic, endemic, demos, demography, demiurge, 27 more
Today it means
adj Of or for the common people.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “demotic”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek δῆμος / demotic