Demeaned

Demeaned
Demean De*mean", v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Demeaned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Demeaning}.] [OF. demener to conduct, guide, manage, F. se d['e]mener to struggle; pref. d['e]- (L. de) + mener to lead, drive, carry on, conduct, fr. L. minare to drive animals by threatening cries, fr. minari to threaten. See {Menace}.] 1. To manage; to conduct; to treat. [1913 Webster]

[Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. [1913 Webster]

They have demeaned themselves Like men born to renown by life or death. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

They answered . . . that they should demean themselves according to their instructions. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster]

3. To debase; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. [1913 Webster]

Her son would demean himself by a marriage with an artist's daughter. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]

Note: This sense is probably due to a false etymology which regarded the word as connected with the adjective mean. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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