Meanings
- governmentOnly the upper or front half of
1 more example
The Barony of Pennicuik, the property of Sir George Clerk, Bart., is held by the following singular tenure: The proprietor is bound to sit upon a large rock, called the Buckstone, and wind three blasts of a horn when the king comes to hunt on the Borough Moor near Edinburgh. On account of this singular custom the family have adopted as their crest a demi-forester proper, winding a horn with the motto, Free for a blast.
1885, E. J. Guthrie, Old Scottish Customs, page 84
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
- Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
- Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
- Proto-Italic*dis-
- Latindis-
- Proto-Indo-European*me
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
- Proto-Indo-European*médʰi
- Proto-Indo-European*médʰyos
- Proto-Italic*meðios
- Latinmedius
- Latindīmidius
- Vulgar Latin*dimedius
- Anglo-Normandemi
- Middle Englishdemi
- Englishdemi-
From Middle English demi (“half, half-sized, partial”), from Anglo-Norman demi (“half”), from Vulgar Latin *dimedius, from Latin dīmidius, from dis- (“apart; in two”) + medius (“middle”).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese 半
- 半 (bàn)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Finnish puoli-
- puoli-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
French demi-
- demi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Greek ημι-
- ημι- (imi-)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Italian semi-, emi-
- semi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
- emi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Japanese 半
- 半 (han)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Korean 반
- 반 (ban)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Latin semi-
- semi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Polish pół-
- pół-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Romanian semi-, demi-
- semi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
- demi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
- emi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Russian пол-, полу-
- пол- (pol-)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
- полу- (polu-)half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Spanish semi-
- semi-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Tagalog mala-
- mala-half — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Vietnamese bán
- bánhalf — see also half-, semi-, hemi-
Cite this entry
demi-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demi-
“demi-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demi-. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “demi-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/demi-.
Source: demi- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.