demeans, means of subsistence. Massinger, Picture, i. 1. 22.
demerit, merit; in a good sense. Coriolanus, i. 1. 276; Othello, i. 2. 2; Shirley, Humorous Courtier, ii. 2 (Duchess).
demi-culverin, a kind of cannon, with a bore of about 4 inches. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum., iii. 1 (Bobadil).
demi-footcloth, a demi-housing, or short housing; see [footcloth]. Webster, White Devil (Brachiano), ed. Dyce, p. 22.
demiss, humble, abject. Spenser, Hymn of Heavenly Love, 135. L. demissus.
democcuana, not explained; perhaps, a kind of mixed drink; see [stiponie]. Etherege, Love in a Tub, v. 4 (Sir Frederick).
Demogorgon, the name of one of the Spirits of the Abyss. Milton, P. L. ii. 965; Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 47; co-ruler with Beelzebub, in Marlowe Faustus, iii. 18; the patron of alchemists, Howell, Instructions for Forraine Travell (Arber’s ed., p. 81). Demogorgon is an important character in Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound. Late L. Demogorgon, (1) the name of a terrible deity invoked in magic rites, (2) the primordial God of ancient mythology. Probably a corruption of Gk. δημιουργός, the Maker of the World, the Fabricator, in the Neo-Platonic philosophy opp. to κτίστης, the Creator. By popular etymology this δημιουργός was associated with the Greek words δαίμων, a demon, and Γοργώ, the Gorgon, i.e. the Grim One (γοργός). See Stanford, and NED.
dempt, pt. t. ‘deemed’, adjudged. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 55; Shep. Kal., Aug., 137.
demulce, to mollify. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 20, § 1. L. demulcere, to stroke down.
denay, to deny. Greene, Alphonsus, iii (Medea); ed. Dyce, 237; denial, Twelfth Nt. ii. 4. 127. Norm. F. deneier, ‘refuser, rejeter’ (Moisy), L. denegare.