demise 
demise (de-miz'), v.; pret. and pp. demised, 
ppr. demising. [< demise, n.] I. trans. 1. To 
bequeath; grant by will. 
What state, what dignity, what honour 
Canst thou demise to any child of mine? 
Shak., Bich. III., iv. 4. 
2. In law, to transfer or convey, as an estate, 
for life or for years; lease. 
The governour and treasurer, by order of the general 
court, did demise to Edward Converse the ferry between 
Boston and Charlestown. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 427. 
The words grant and demise in a lease for years create 
an implied warranty of title and a covenant for quiet en- 
joyment. Justice Swayne, 92 U. 8., 109. 
II. intrans. To pass by bequest or inheri- 
tance ; descend, as property. 
Now arose a difficulty whether the property of the 
late King demised to the king or to the crown. 
Greville, Memoirs, Jan. 8, 1823. 
demisemiquaver (dem'i-sem-i-kwa'ver), n. In 
musical notation, a note v m _ m m 
relatively equivalent in Js g ^Sj p^ 
time-value to half of a a b c t 
semiquaver ; a thirty-sec- 
ond note. Its form is either a or 6 when alone, 
or c or A when in groups. Demisemiquaver 
rest, in musical notation, a rest or sign for silence equiv- 
alent in time-value to a demisemiquaver or J? thirty-second 
note ; a thirty-second rest. Its form is : 1 
demisentt (dem'i-sent), n. [< OP. demiceinct, a 
half-girdle, < demi-, half, + ceinct, girdle : see 
ceintr\ A form of girdle worn by women in the 
sixteenth century. 
demi-sheath (dem'i-sheth), n. In entom.. one 
of a pair of plates or channeled setsB which, 
when united, form a tube encircling an organ : 
specifically applied to elongate organs which 
cover the ovipositor of ichneumons and some 
other insects. 
demisphere (dem'i-sfer), n. [OF. demisphere, 
< derm-, half, + sphere, sphere.] Same as hemi- 
sphere. [Rare. ] 
demiss (de-mis'), a. [= OF. dents, desmis = 
Sp. demiso = Pg. demisso = It. dimisso, dimes- 
so, humble, submissive, < L. demissus, pp. of de- 
mittere, let down, cast down: see demit^.] 1. 
Downcast ; humble ; abject. [Rare.] 
He downe descended, like a most demme 
And abject thrall, in fleshes fraile attyre. 
Spenser, Heavenly Love. 
Neither is humility a virtue made up of wearing old 
clothes, ... or of sullen gestures, or demiss behaviour. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), I. 302. 
2. In bpt., depressed ; flattened. E. Tuckerman. 
demission 1 (de-mish'on), . [< OF. demission, 
F. demission = Sp. demision = Pg. demissSo = 
It. dimessione, a humbling, lowering, < L. de- 
missio(n-), a letting down, lowering, sinking, 
abatement, < demittere, let down, lower, demit: 
see demit 1 .] A lowering; degradation; depres- 
sion. 
Demission of mind. Hammond, Works, I. 238. 
Their omission or their demission to a lower rank. 
The American, VI. 214. 
demission 2 (de-mish'on), n. [< OF. demission, 
desmission, F. demission = Sp. dimiion = Pg. 
dimissao = It. dimessione, a giving up, resigna- 
tion, demising, dismission, < L. dimissio(n-), a 
sending away, dismission, discharge, < dimit- 
tere, send away, dismiss: see demit z = dimit, 
dismiss, and of. dimission and dismission, doub- 
lets of demission 2 .] A laying or letting down ; 
relinquishment ; resignation; transference. 
Even in an active life . . . some recesses and temporary 
demissions of the world are most expedient. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), I. 96. 
Inexorable rigour is worse than a lasche demission of 
sovereign authority. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
demissionary 1 (de-mish'on-a-ri), a. [< demis- 
sion'i + -an/i.] Degrading;' tending to lower 
or degrade. 
demissionary 2 (de-mish'on-a-ri), a. [< demis- 
sion? + -aryi. Ci. F. demissionnaire = Pg. de- 
missionario, one who has resigned an office.] ' human opinion. 
Pertaining to the transfer or conveyance of an 
estate by lease or will, 
demissivet (de-mis'iv), a. [As demiss + -ive.] 
Humble; downcast; demiss. 
1526 
fenses than tassets, and often without iron gauntlets, thus 
closely resembling the corselet. See corselet, 3. 
demit 1 ! (de-mif), v. t. [< L. demittere, pp. de- 
missus, send down, drop down, cast down, low- 
er, let fall, < de, down, + mittere, send: see 
mission, and cf. admit, commit, emit, etc. Cf. 
also demifi = dimit.] 1. To lower; cause to 
droop or hang down ; depress. 
They [peacocks] presently demit and let fall the same 
[their trains). Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., iii. 27. 
2. To submit ; humble. 
She, being heaven-born, demits hersell to such earthly 
drudgery. NorriK. 
demit 2 (de-mif), v. t.\ pret. and pp. demitted, 
ppr. demiiting. [= OF. demetre, desmetre, des- 
mettre, F. demettre = Pr. demetre = Sp. Pg. di- 
mitir = It. dimettere, < L. dimittere, send away, 
dismiss, let go, release, < di-, dis-, away, apart, 
+ mittere, send. Cf . dimit, a doublet of deniift, 
and see dismiss, etc.] If. To let go; dismiss. 
Let us here demit one spider and ten flise. 
lleywood, Spider and Fly (1556). 
2. To lay down formally, as an office ; resign ; 
relinquish; transfer. 
The rest of the lords enterprisers, after they had secured 
the queen in Lochlevin, began to consult how to get her 
majesty counselled to demit the government to the prince 
her son. Melmll, Memoirs, p. 85. 
General Conway demitted his office, and my commission 
expired, of course. Hume, Private Correspondence. 
demi-tint (dem'i-tint), . [< demi- + tint, after 
F. demi-teinte. Cf. mezzotint.] In painting, a 
gradation of color between positive light and 
positive shade. Commonly called half-tint. 
demitone (dem'i-ton), . In music, same as 
semitone. [Little used.] 
demiurge (dem'i-erj), n. [< L. demiurgus, < Gr. 
<%iny>yo"f, contr. of earlier (Epic) dq/uoepyuf, lit. 
a worker for the people, a handicraftsman, a 
skilled workman, a maker, an architect, the 
Maker of the world, the Creator (see def.), < 
iqfuoc, of the people (< iwof, the people), + *lp- 
yetv, work, Ipyov, a work, = E. work.] 1. A 
maker or creator; the Creator of the world; 
specifically, a supernal being imagined by some 
as the creator of the world in subordination to 
the Supreme Being. In the Gnostic system the Demi- 
urge (also called Archon, and Jaldabaoth, or son of Chaos) 
was represented as the chief of the lowest order of spirits 
or eons of the Pleroma. Mingling with Chaos, he evolved 
from it a corporeal, animated world. He could not, how- 
ever, impart to man the true soul or pneuma, but only a 
sensuous one, psyche. He was identified with the Jeho- 
vah of the Jews, and was by some regarded as the origi- 
nator of evil. 
God defined as First Cause . . . would not be God, but 
a demiurge, or subordinately creative deity, created to 
create the world. Hodgson, Phil, of Reflection, III. xi. 6. 
It is much easier to believe that in some way unknown 
to our finite intelligence the power and goodness of God 
are compatible with the existence of evil than that the 
world is the work of an inferior demiurgus or other demon. 
Edinburgh Rev. 
The Gnostics agreed in attributing the world in which 
we live to an Angel, or a Demiurge, inferior to the infi- 
nite God. G. P. fisher, Begin, of Christianity, p. 385. 
2. In some Peloponnesian states of ancient 
Greece, one of a class of public officers who 
in some cases appear to have constituted the 
chief executive magistracy. 
demiurgeous (dem'i-er-jus), a. [< demiurge + 
-OM*.] Of the nature of or resembling a demi- 
urge ; of demiurgic character. [Rare.] 
There is, in our drunken land, a certain privilege ex- 
tended to drunkenness. . . . Our demiurgeous Mrs. Grundy 
smiles apologetically on its victims. 
R. L. Stevenson, Familiar Studies of Men and Books, Pref. 
demiurgic, demiurgical (dem-i-er'jik, -ji-kal), 
a. [< L. as if *demitirgicus, < Gr. oy/uovp-ytKof, 
^(^uowpyof, demiurge: see demiurge.] Pertain- 
ing to a demiurge, or to the act or process of 
creation. 
Far beyond all other political powers of Christianity is 
the demiurgic power of this religion over the kingdoms 
De Quincey. 
To play the part of a demiurge was a delight to Shelley ; 
in to have an inf 
evel 
mean happiness. 
terest in the demiurgic effort was no 
E. Dowden, Shelley, II. 804. 
They pray with demiesive eyelids, and sitting with their 
knees deflected under them, to shew their fear and rever- 
ence. Lord, The Banians, p. 72. 
demisslyt (de-mis'li), adv. In a humble manner. 
demissory (de-mis'o-ri), a. [Var. of dimissory, 
q. v.] In Scots law, tending to the resignation 
or laying down of an office. 
demi-suit (dem'i-sut), . The suit of light ar- 
mor common in the fifteenth century and later. 
In its later form it was without jainbes or other leg-de- 
demi-vambrace (dem'i-yam*'bras), n. In armor, 
a plate of iron protecting the outside of the 
forearm, and adjusted over a sleeve of mail or 
a sleeve of gamboised work. 
demi-villt (dem'i-vil), n. In law, a half-vill, 
consisting of five freemen or frank-pledges. 
demi-vol (dem'i-vol), . In her., a single wing 
of a bird, used as a bearing. 
demi-volt (dem'i-volt), n. [< F. demi-rolte, < 
demi-,h&lf, + volte, a leap, vault: seevaulft.] In 
the manege, one of the seven artificial motions 
democrat 
of a horse, in which he makes a half turn with 
the fore legs raised. 
Fitz-Eustace, . . . making demi-rotte in air, 
Cried, " Where's the coward that would not dare 
To fight for such a land ? " Scott, Marmion, iv. 30. 
demi-wolf (dem'i-wulf), n.; pi. dani-icolt'es 
(wulvz). A half-wolf ; a mongrel between a 
dog and a wolf. 
Spaniels, curs, 
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolofs, are cleped 
All by the name of dogs. Shak., Macbeth, iii. 1. 
demobilization (de-m6"bi-li-za'shon), n. [< F. 
demobilisation, < dcmobitiser, demobilize : see 
demobilize.] The act of disbanding troops ; the 
reduction of military armaments to a peace 
footing; the condition of being demobilized, 
and not liable to be moved on service. Also 
written demobilisation. See mobilization. 
demobilize (de-mo'bi-liz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. de- 
mobilized, ppr. demobilizing. [< F. demobiliser, < 
de- priv. + mobiliser, mobilize: see mobilize.] 
To disband; change from a condition of mobi- 
lization. Also written demobilise. 
democracy (de-mok'ra-si), TO.; pi. democracies 
(-siz). [Formerly democrat!/, democratic; < OF. 
democratic, F. democratic (t pron. s) = Sp. Pg. 
democracia, = It. democrazia = D. G. demokratie 
= Dan. Sw. demokrati, < Gr, <!i?/vo/(por/a, popular 
government (cf. d>i/JOKpaTeic6ai, have popular 
government), < Sfj/tof , the people, + Kpareiv, rule, 
be strong, < updroe, strength, < Kparvf, strong, = 
Goth, hardus = E. hard, q. v.] 1. Government 
by the people ; a system of government in which 
the sovereign power of the state is vested in the 
people as a whole, and is exercised directly by 
them or their elected agents. 
The majority, having the whole power of the commu- 
nity, may employ all that power in making laws, and ex- 
ecuting those laws; and there the form of the government 
is a perfect democracy. Locke. 
In this open democracy [of the town meeting], every 
opinion had utterance; every objection, every fact, every 
acre of land, every bushel of rye, its entire weight. 
Emerson, Hist. Discourse at Concord. 
2. A state or civil body in which the people 
themselves exercise all legislative authority, 
and confer all executive and judicial powers, 
either by direct collective action or through 
elected representatives. Athens and some of the 
other ancient Greek states, and, within the limits of their 
power, the canton of Appenzell in Switzerland and the 
towns of the northern United States, are instances of de- 
mocracies of the first class. In democratic republics gen- 
erally, however, all power is exercised by delegated au- 
thority. See republic. 
3. Political and social equality in general; a 
state of society in which no hereditary differ- 
ences of rank or privilege are recognized: op- 
posed to aristocracy. 
Rank nor name nor pomp has he 
In the grave's democracy. 
Whittier, Grave by the Lake. 
4. [cap.] In U. S.polit. hist.: (a) The system 
of principles held by the Democratic party. 
See democratic, (b) The members of the Demo- 
cratic party collectively. 
[The Missouri controversy) was a political movement 
for the balance of power, balked by the Northern democ- 
racy, who saw their own overthrow, and the eventual sep- 
aration of the States, in the establishment of geographical 
parties divided by a slavery and anti-slavery line. 
T. H. Benton, Thirty Years, I. 10. 
5. In a collective sense, the people; especial- 
ly, the people regarded as exercising political 
powers. 
Thence to the famous orators repair, 
Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence 
Wielded at will that fierce democratic. 
Hilton, P. R., iv. 269. 
Social democracy. See social. 
democrat (dem o-krat), n. [= D. demokraat = 
G. Dan. Sw. demokrat, < F. democrate = Sp. demd- 
crata = Pg. democrata, < NL. *democrata, < Gr. 
dr/ftoKpar-, base of oV/HC/>ar-//i-of, dr/fiOKpaT-ia : see 
democratic, democracy.] 1. One who believes 
in or adheres to democracy as a principle of 
government or of organized society ; one who 
believes in political and natural equality ; an 
opponent of arbitrary or hereditary distinc- 
tions of rank and privilege: opposed to aris- 
tocrat. 
Like most women of first-rate ability, she was at bottom 
a democrat; rank was her convenience, but she had no 
respect for it or belief in it. J. Hairthorne, Dust, p. 157. 
2. [cap.] A member of the Democratic party 
in the United States. 
The name Democrat, now in use by one of the great 
parties North and South, was originally a term of re- 
proach, like that of Jacuhin. and subsequently like that of 
I.ui'ufoco, and has been freely accepted at tin- Suuth only 
since the Rebellion. 
Quoted by Thurluw '<(, Autobiog., p. 136. 
