1.
[syn: take down, degrade, disgrace, demean, put down]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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[Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter.
--Milton.
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2. To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the
reflexive pronoun.
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They have demeaned themselves
Like men born to renown by life or death. --Shak.
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They answered . . . that they should demean
themselves according to their instructions.
--Clarendon.
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3. To debase; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the
reflexive pronoun.
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Her son would demean himself by a marriage with an
artist's daughter. --Thackeray.
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Note: This sense is probably due to a false etymology which
regarded the word as connected with the adjective mean.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Demean \De*mean"\, n. [OF. demene. See Demean, v. t.]
1. Management; treatment. [Obs.]
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Vile demean and usage bad. --Spenser.
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2. Behavior; conduct; bearing; demeanor. [Obs.]
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With grave demean and solemn vanity. --West.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Demean \De*mean"\, n. [See Demesne.]
1. Demesne. [Obs.]
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2. pl. Resources; means. [Obs.]
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You know
How narrow our demeans are. --Massinger.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
demean
v 1: reduce in worth or character, usually verbally; "She tends
to put down younger women colleagues"; "His critics took
him down after the lecture" [syn: take down, degrade,
disgrace, demean, put down]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
36 Moby Thesaurus words for "demean":
abase, abash, acquit, act, bear, belittle, bring down, bring low,
carry, cast down, comport, conduct, contemn, crush, debase, decry,
degrade, deport, derogate, despise, detract, diminish, disparage,
dump, dump on, go on, humiliate, lower, put down, quit, reduce,
scorn, set down, sink, take down, trip up