3 entries 1 source
Demean
Open directlyWebster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 1 of 3
Part of speech: noun (n.)
1. Management; treatment. [Obs.] Vile demean and usage bad. Spenser.
2. Behavior; conduct; bearing; demeanor. [Obs.] With grave demean and solemn vanity. West.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 2 of 3
Part of speech: noun (n.)
1. Demesne. [Obs.]
2. Resources; means. [Obs.] You know How narrow our demeans are. Massinger.
Webster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 3 of 3
Part of speech: verb (v.)
1. To manage; to conduct; to treat. [Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter. Milton.
2. To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. They have demeaned themselves Like men born to renown by life or death. Shak. They answered . . . that they should demean themselves according to their instructions. Clarendon.
3. To debase; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. Her son would demean himself by a marriage with an artist's daughter. Thackeray.