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Origin and history of demure

demure(adj.)

late 14c. (early 14c. as an Anglo-French surname), "calm, settled;" of persons, "sober, grave, serious," from an Anglo-French extended form of Old French meur "mature, fully grown, ripe," hence "discreet" (Modern French mûr), from Latin maturus "mature" (see mature (v.)). The de- in this word is of uncertain meaning and origin. Barnhart suggests the Anglo-French word is from Old French demore, past participle of demorer "to stay," and influenced by meur. Klein suggests Old French de (bon) murs "of good manners," from murs (Modern French moeurs).

Now usually meaning "affectedly decorous, reserved, or coy" (1690s). Related: Demurely; demureness.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to demure

mature(v.)

c. 1400, maturen, "encourage suppuration;" mid-15c., of plants, "cause to ripen, bring to maturity," from Latin mātūrare "to ripen, bring to maturity," from mātūrus "ripe, timely, early," related to māne "early, of the morning," from PIE *meh-tu- "ripeness." De Vaan writes that "The root is probably the same as in mānus 'good'." Intransitive sense of "come to a state of ripeness, become ripe or perfect" is from 1650s. The financial sense of "reach the time for payment" is by 1861. Related: Matured; maturing.

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    Trends of demure

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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