Dictionary: DEM'I-URG'IC – DE'MON-IZE

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DEM'I-URG'IC, a.

Pertaining to a demiurge, or to creative power. – Trans. of Pausanias.

DEM-I-UR'GIC, a.

Pertaining to a demiurge.

DEM'I-VILL, n.

A half-vill, consisting of five freemen or frank pledges. – Spelman. Blackstone.

DEM'I-VOLT, n. [demi and volt, vault.]

One of the seven artificial motions of a horse, in which he raises his fore legs in a particular manner.

DEM'I-WOLF, n.

Half a wolf; a mongrel dog, between a dog and a wolf; lycisca. – Shak.

DE-MOC'RA-CY, n. [Gr. δημοκρατια; δημος, people, and κρατεω, to possess, to govern.]

Government by the people; a form of government, in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people collectively, or in which the people exercise the powers of legislation. Such was the government of Athens.

DEM'O-CRAT, n.

One who adheres to a government by the people, or favors the extension of the right of suffrage to all classes of men.

DEM-O-CRAT'IC, or DEM-O-CRAT'IC-AL, a.

Popular; pertaining to democracy, or government by the people; as a democratical form of government.

DEM-O-CRAT'IC-AL-LY, adv.

In a democratical manner. – Sidney.

DE-MOL'ISH, v.t. [Fr. demolir, demolissant; Sp. demoler; It. demolire; L. demolior; de and molior, to build. Class Ml, No. 12, 15.]

To throw or pull down; to raze; to destroy, as a heap or structure; to separate any collected mass, or the connected parts of a thing; to ruin; as, to demolish an edifice, or a mound; to demolish a wall or fortification.

DE-MOL'ISH-ED, pp.

Pulled down; thrown down; razed; destroyed, as a fabric or structure.

DE-MOL'ISH-ER, n.

One who pulls or throws down; one who destroys or lays waste; as, a demolisher of towns.

DE-MOL'ISH-ING, ppr.

Pulling or throwing down; a destroying.

DE-MOL'ISH-MENT, n.

Ruin; overthrow. – Beaum.

DE-MO-LI'TION, n.

The act of overthrowing, pulling down or destroying a pile or structure; ruin; destruction; as the demolition of a house, or of military works.

DE'MON, n. [L. dæmon; Gr. δαιμων; Sp. It. demonio; Fr. demon; Ir. deamal or deamon. The origin and primary sense of this word I have not been able to ascertain. Qu. Ar. دَهِمَ dahima, daima, to fall suddenly, to rush, to overwhelm, to obscure, to blacken; whence misfortune, black, blackness, evil, a monster: or is it a compound of dea, dia, deus, and mon, a word signifying evil, from the Persian? I place little confidence in these conjectures.]

A spirit, or immaterial being, holding a middle place between men and the celestial deities of the Pagans. The ancients believed that there were good and evil demons, which had influence over the minds of men, and that these beings carried on an intercourse between men and gods, conveying the addresses of men to the gods, and divine benefits to men. Hence demons became the objects of worship. It was supposed also that human spirits, after their departure from the body, became demons, and that the souls of virtuous men, if highly purified, were exalted from demons into gods. In the Scriptures, the Greek δαιμων is rendered devil, and sometimes at least improperly; for nothing is more certain than that different beings are intended by διαβολος and δαιμην. The demons of the New Testament were supposed to be spiritual beings which vexed and tormented men. And in general, the word, in modern use, signifies an evil spirit or genius, which influences the conduct or directs the fortunes of mankind. [See Campbell's Dissert.]

DE'MON-ESS, n.

A female demon. – Mede.

DE-MO'NI-AC, or DE-MO-NI'AC-AL, a. [or DE-MO'NI-AN.]

  1. Pertaining to demons or evil spirits. From thy demoniac holds. – Milton.
  2. Influenced by demons; produced by demons or evil spirits. Demoniac phrensy. – Milton.

DE-MO'NI-AC, n.

A human being possessed by a demon; one whose volition and other mental faculties are overpowered, restrained or disturbed, in their regular operation, by an evil spirit, or by a created spiritual being of superior power. – Encyc.

DE-MO-NI'AC-AL-LY, adv.

In a demoniacal manner.

DE-MO-NI'A-CISM, n.

The state of being demoniac; or the practice of demoniacs. – Milman.

DE-MO'NI-ACS, n.

In Church history, a branch of the Anabaptists, whose distinguishing tenet is, that at the end of the world the devil will be saved. – Encyc.

DE-MO'NI-AN-ISM, n.

The state of being possessed by a demon. – Warburton.

DE'MON-ISM, n.

The belief in demons or false gods. – Jefferson.

DE'MON-IZE, v.t.

To convert into a demon; to infuse the principles or fury of a demon.