# demure
## English
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle English demure, demwre, an abbreviation of Anglo-Norman de mure port (“with a mature demeanor”) (compare Old French meur from Latin mātūrus):
* si il seyt coy e de mure port (Amur curteiz) (“he sits quietly and with a mature appearance”)
* Documents illustrating the history of Scotland, CLV, 1306, Orders for the custody of Scottish prisoners, CLV: …et que eles soient de bon et meur port (“…with a good and mature demeanor”)
* mss. Arundel, 220: ke cely qe vus amerez soyt de gentil manere, coy, de meure porture (“with a mature demeanor”)
* (Monastic rule): de aunciene dame de meure porture ke pusse les plus ieuenes rieueler e endoctriner (“an old lady with a mature demeanor able to rule and educate the young girls”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/
* (Standard Southern British) IPA: /dəˈmjɔː(ɹ)/, /dɪˈmjɵː(ɹ)/, /dɪˈmjʊə(ɹ)/
* (US, General American) IPA: /dɪˈmjʊɹ/, /dɪˈmjɔɹ/
* (General Australian) IPA: /dəˈmjʊə(ɹ)/
* (New Zealand) IPA: /dəˈmjʉə(ɹ)/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: de‧mure

### Adjective

demure (comparative demurer, superlative demurest)
* (chiefly of a woman) Modest, quiet, reserved, or serious.
    Synonyms: retiring, shy, sober; see also Thesaurus:serious
    She is a demure young lady.
** 1881, William Black, The Beautiful Wretch:Nan was very much delighted in her demure way, and that delight showed itself in her face and in her clear bright eyes.
** 2005, Maureen Dowd, Are Men Necessary?, →ISBN, page 311:I was coming back from the ladies' room when I saw her. She looked demure. Oval wire-rimmed glasses. A sky blue jacket buttoned over a long black-and-white flowered shirt.
** 2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this …'”, in The Daily Telegraph‎:[H]owever hard she pushed the tough-talkin' shtick, she remained doe-eyed, glowing and somehow unassailably demure.
** 2021 June 30, Motoko Rich, Hikari Hida, “Expected to Be Demure, Japan’s Girls Face Steep Hurdles to Athletic Dreams”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:And in their daily lives, girls and women are pushed to conform to fairly narrow templates of behavior as demure or delicate.
* Affectedly modest, decorous, or serious; making a show of gravity.
    Synonym: coy
** c. 1824, Mary Russell Mitford, Walks in the Country:Miss Lizzy, I have no doubt, would be as demure and coquettish, as if ten winters more had gone over her head.

#### Usage notes

* Usage of the term "demure" spiked in 2024 after the catchphrase "very demure, very mindful" went viral on TikTok.

#### Derived terms

* as demure as a whore at a christening
* demurely
* demureness
* demurity
* undemure

#### Translations
### Verb

demure (third-person singular simple present demures, present participle demuring, simple past and past participle demured)
* (obsolete) To look demurely.
** c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene xvi], page 363, column 2, line 30:Your Wife Octavia, with her modeſt eyes, / […] ſhall acquire no Honour / Demuring vpon me:

### References

* ↑ “Very Demure, Very Mindful”, in Know Your Meme, website first launched 2007

### Further reading

* “demure”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “demure, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From de- +‎ mure.

#### Alternative forms

* demewre, demeur, demuer, demur, demwre, dimuir

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɛːˈmiu̯r/

#### Adjective

demure
* grave, serious, modest

##### Derived terms

* demurely

##### Descendants

* English: demure
* Scots: demure

##### References

* “dēmūr, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

From Old French demore, demure.

#### Alternative forms

* demere, demoere, demore

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɛːˈmeːr/, /dɛːˈmiu̯r/, /dɛːˈmur/

#### Noun

demure
* (rare) delay, waiting, stay

##### Related terms

* demuren

##### Descendants

* English: demur

##### References

* “dēmū̆re, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 3
#### Verb

demure
* Alternative form of demuren