Etymology

demi

D2E1M3I1

Today it means: A fifty pence piece. Full definition →

Middle English demi ← Anglo-Norman demi ← Latin dimidius
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

demi · noun1

  1. Latin · derived fromdimidius
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromdemi
  3. Middle English · inherited fromdemi
  4. English todaydemi

From Middle English demi, from Anglo-Norman demi, from Latin dimidius. Literally, “half”.

demi · noun2

Clipping of demimonde.

demi · adjective3

Clipping of demisexual.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishdemi all →

demi-

Anglo-Normandemi all →

demi-

Latindimidius all →

demi-demipointe

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.