Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To lead; guide; conduct.
  • To conduct; manage; control; exercise; do.
  • Reflexively, to behave; carry; conduct.
  • noun Dealing; management; treatment.
  • noun Mien; demeanor; behavior; conduct.
  • noun Same as demain.
  • To debase; lower; lower the dignity or standing of; bemean.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To manage; to conduct; to treat.
  • transitive verb To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun.
  • transitive verb To debase; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun.
  • noun obsolete Demesne.
  • noun obsolete Resources; means.
  • noun obsolete Management; treatment.
  • noun obsolete Behavior; conduct; bearing; demeanor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To debase; to lower; to degrade.
  • verb To humble, humble oneself; to humiliate.
  • verb To mortify.
  • noun demesne.
  • noun resources; means.
  • verb To manage; to conduct; to treat.
  • verb To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun.
  • noun archaic Management; treatment.
  • noun archaic Behavior; conduct; bearing; demeanor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

(1595) From de- +‎ mean "lowly, base" from Middle English mene, aphetic variation of imene ("mean, base, common"), from Old English ġemǣne ("mean, common").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Var. of demesne.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English demenen, demeinen, from Anglo-Norman demener, from Old French demener, from de- + mener ("to conduct, lead"), from Latin mināre and Latin minārī "to threaten"

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Examples

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  • "Jolter, therefore, knowing his importance, informed his pupil of the directions he had received, and very candidly asked how he should demean himself in the execution..."

    — Smollett, Peregrine Pickle

    January 17, 2022