Dictionary

demirep en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɛmiːɹɛp/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰe Proto-Indo-European *médʰi Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos Proto-Italic *meðios Latin medius Latin dīmidius Vulgar Latin *dimediusder. Anglo-Norman demibor. Middle English demi English demi- English reputation English demirep From demi- + reputation.

Meanings

1. (colloquial, dated) A woman of doubtful reputation or suspected character; an adventuress.
   • Madam by this Time Lady Brittle is the Talk of half the Town—and I doubt not in a week the Men will toast her as a Demirep. 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.i:
   • In this new world, ruled by charlatans and dominated by demireps, Talleyrand may have found much to shock his sense of decorum, but little to outrage his moral standards. 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 65:
   • With the mincing step of a demirep / Some sidled up the stairs […]. 1904, Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol:
   • he had no knowledge of that character which is vulgarly called a demirep; that is to say, a woman who intrigues with every man she likes, under the name and appearance of virtue [...] in short, whom everybody knows to be what nobody calls her. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 569:
   • […] in short, this delightful, blissful, wise, pleasurable, honourable, virtuous, true, and immortal prince, was a violator of his word, a libertine, over head and ears in disgrace, a despiser of domestic ties, the companion of gamblers and demireps […] . 1813, Leigh Hunt, in a journal article about the prince.(Chambers, R.. "'The Book of Days': A miscellany of popular antiquities. Londres: W & R Chambers, 1832." Google Books)
   • […] the greater part of our confessions (that is, spontaneous and extra-judicial confessions) proceed from demireps, adventurers, or swindlers […]. 1822, Thomas de Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater:

Forms

Deriveds

demirepdom