demise
/dɪˈmaɪz/noun, verb
demise is spelled D-E-M-I-S-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, demise means “The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of demise is demises.
How many letters and syllables are in demise?
| Letters | 6: D-E-M-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is demise?
Demise appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce demise?
- /dɪˈmaɪz/
Demise has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-demise.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-demise.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-demise.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of demise
- demises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- demising participle, present
- demised participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does demise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The conveyance or transfer of an estate, either in fee for life or for years, most commonly the latter.
- 2
Transmission by formal act or conveyance to an heir or successor; transference; especially, the transfer or transmission of the crown or royal authority to a successor.
- 3
Death; decease.
- 4
The end of something, in a negative sense; downfall.
The lack of funding ultimately led to the project's demise.
- 5
The atmospheric disintegration of a satellite or satellite component upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
Relocating components to places where they receive more heating effect earlier in the reentry and even triggering a partial break-up of the satellite structure during reentry to aid demise.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo give.
- 2
To convey, as by will or lease.
- 3
To transmit by inheritance.
- 4
To pass by inheritance.
- 5
To die.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Demise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | transfert , transmission , mort , chute, fin |
| German | Verpachtung , Übertragung, Besitzübertragung, Übergabe, Übergang , Tod |
| Portuguese | cessão, transferência , morte, óbito, falecimento , fim |
| Spanish | quiebra |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does demise come from?
From Middle English demyse, dimise, dimisse, dymyse, from Middle French démise, the feminine singular past participle of démettre (“to put down, relinquish”); from Latin dēmissa, feminine singular of perfect passive participle of dēmittō. The "death" and "end" senses derive by way of euphemism from the legal sense, as a person's death was a common way that the legal demise could be accomplished. The verb is from Middle English dimisen, from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).