Word of the Day:

“At home, your demeanor impacts your family more than you realize. Your kids feed off your energy. If you’re engaged, positive, and present, they feel it.” — Brandon Brigman, The Rockdale Citizen (Conyers, Georgia), 30 Mar. 2026

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The history of demeanor begins with a threat: the word has its roots in Latin minārī, meaning “to threaten.” A form of that word was used in contexts having to do with driving animals—that is, impelling them to move—and from this word came more recent French ancestors having to do with leading, guiding, and behaving. By the 14th century, English had adopted a word out of this lineage: the verb demean meaning “to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner.” (Another demean, defined as “to lower in character, status, or reputation,” entered the language later by way of the mean that has to do with being cruel.) The noun demeanor was formed in the following century through the addition of the suffix -or.