demi-monde

See also: demimonde

English

Noun

demi-monde (plural demi-mondes)

1. Alternative form of demimonde
   • 1867, W[illiam] Blanchard Jerrod, “Society under the Second Empire”, in On the Boulevards; or Memorable Men and Things Drawn on the Spot, 1853–1866. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott & Co.; London: W[illiam] H[oughton] Allen & Co., […], →OCLC, page 14:

     Paris society borrows fashions from the demi-monde, and the demi-monde borrows manners from the extravagant princesses, countesses, and viscountesses. All Parie has been stirred with the Sardanapalian entertainment, which a leader of the demi-monde gave on the eve of Lent to the best male society in the Empire. The ladies were all unquestionably from young [Alexandre] Dumas' panier à quinze sous; but their manners and their toilettes were, we are told, all that could be desired.

   • 1920 May 27, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “The Offshore Pirate”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published September 1920, →OCLC, part I, page 6:

     This is the last straw. In your infatuation for this man—a man who is notorious for his excesses, a man your father would not have allowed to so much as mention your name—you have reflected the demi-monde rather than the circles in which you have presumably grown up.

French

Etymology

From demi- +‎ monde, probably after a play by French author and playwright Alexandre Dumas fils.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də.mi.mɔ̃d/

• Audio:

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Noun

demi-monde m (plural demi-mondes)

1. demimonde

Derived terms

• demi-mondain
• demi-mondaine

Descendants

• → English: demimonde

Further reading

• demi-mondaine on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr
• “demi-monde”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.