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demise

[dih-mahyz]
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noun
  1. death or decease.
  2. termination of existence or operation: the demise of the empire.
  3. Law.
    1. a death or decease occasioning the transfer of an estate.
    2. a conveyance or transfer of an estate.
  4. Government. transfer of sovereignty, as by the death or deposition of the sovereign.
verb (used with object), de·mised, de·mis·ing.
  1. Law. to transfer (an estate or the like) for a limited time; lease.
  2. Government. to transfer (sovereignty), as by the death or abdication of the sovereign.
verb (used without object), de·mised, de·mis·ing.
  1. Law. to pass by bequest, inheritance, or succession.

Origin of demise

1400–50; late Middle English dimis(s)e, demise < Old French demis (past participle of desmetre) < Latin dīmissum (past participle of dīmittere); see demit1, dismiss
Related formsde·mis·a·bil·i·ty, nounde·mis·a·ble, adjectivenon·de·mise, nounun·de·mised, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for demised

Historical Examples

  • "No, he didn't; he demised," says Kelly, emerging from obscurity into the light of conversation once more.

    Rossmoyne

    Unknown

  • It's going to be a great shock to some of them one of these days to wake up and find out they're demised!

  • It was demised to her doubtless before her marriage, but it was not altered in relation to her after her marriage.

    Shakespeare's Family

    Mrs. C. C. Stopes

  • John B. Waldo, recently demised, was also a pupil of mine for about two years.

British Dictionary definitions for demised

demise

noun
  1. failure or terminationthe demise of one's hopes
  2. a euphemistic or formal word for death
  3. property law
    1. a transfer of an estate by lease
    2. the passing or transfer of an estate on the death of the owner
  4. the immediate transfer of sovereignty to a successor upon the death, abdication, etc, of a ruler (esp in the phrase demise of the crown)
verb
  1. to transfer or be transferred by inheritance, will, or succession
  2. (tr) property law to transfer (an estate, etc) for a limited period; lease
  3. (tr) to transfer (sovereignty, a title, etc) by or as if by the death, deposition, etc, of a ruler
Derived Formsdemisable, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Old French, feminine of demis dismissed, from demettre to send away, from Latin dīmittere; see dismiss
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for demised

demise

n.

mid-15c., from Middle French demise, fem. past participle of démettre "dismiss, put away," from des- "away" (from Latin dis-) + Middle French mettre "put," from Latin mittere "let go, send" (see mission). Originally "transfer of estate by will," meaning extended 1754 to "death" because that's when this happens.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper