demeanor

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English demenure,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English demeinen (“to handle, conduct; to behave”) + -ure,^[2][3][5][6] the verb that survives as demean "to conduct oneself".^[7][8] The verb is from Old French demener (“to lead, guide, conduct”), recorded in the “Chanson de Roland” in the 11th century,^[9][3] from de- (“completely”) and mener (“to lead”),^[3][7] from Late Latin minō (“to drive (cattle)”), originally minor (“to threaten”).^[9][3][8][7] In Anglo-Norman demener is recorded from 1113–19, meaning to lead or guide, to lead one's life, and to show in one's actions.^[10] The ending changed under the influence of nouns in -our and -or,^[3][11] probably of the obsolete havour "behaviour" in particular.^[12][13][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Behaviour towards someone, treatment: about 1472, in the Stonor letters.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 15th century,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1425–75.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant conduct or a way of acting, including the management of an affair (OED from 1494), and the treatment of a person (1548); both of these senses are obsolete.^[15] The sense of outward bearing or manner, the usual one today, is recorded from 1509.^[15][12] The 1989 edition of the OED also records a rare late 17th-century use for wrong conduct, a misdemeanour.^[15][12] Johnson (1755) defined it as "carriage; behaviour", quoting Sidney, Hooker and Milton.^[16] In Leicestershire dialect it could mean eccentricity.^[17] Ayto notes that the word goes back to the literal notion of driving animals along.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1472 – demenure, behaviour towards someone, treatment.^[2]
• 1494 – conduct, way of acting, manner of living.^[15]
• 1509 – outward bearing, manner towards others.^[15]
• 1548 – treatment of someone (now obsolete).^[15]
• 1681 – wrong conduct, misdemeanour (obsolete, rare).^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The way a person behaves, especially towards others; outward manner or conduct: Her friendly demeanor put the visitors at ease.^[18][6][19]
2. Bearing, mien or facial appearance.^[6][18][12]
3. (obsolete) Treatment of a person.^[15][2]

Related words

• demean
• misdemeanor
• menace
• amenable

Usage notes

Demeanour is the British spelling and demeanor the American one.^[18][6] Chambers notes Spenser's spelling demeasnure.^[20]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
19. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
20. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap