demur
/dɪˈmɜː/
"demur" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“demur” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Chiefly followed by to, and sometimes by at or on: to object or be reluctant; to balk, to take exception.
Corpus desk
Index EN-demur · demur · English
demur · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | demur |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈmɜː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “demur” in English
Rare enough to double-check
demur is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /dɪˈmɜː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 11 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for demur, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *de From Middle English demuren (“to delay; to linger; to remain (in office); to keep, retain (?)”), from Anglo-Norman demorer and Old French demorer, demourer (“to remain, stay”) (modern French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin dēmorāre, from Latin dē… The correct English form is demur, spelled D-E-M-U-R.
Definition
- 1Chiefly followed by to, and sometimes by at or on: to object or be reluctant; to balk, to take exception.
- 2To submit a demurrer (“motion by a party to a legal action for the immediate or summary judgment of the court on the question of whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defence, and hence whether the party bringing the motion is required to answer or proceed further”).
- 3To endure, to last.
- 4To linger, to tarry.
- 5To remain, to stay.
- 6To suspend judgment or proceedings because of a difficulty or doubt; to put off the conclusion or determination of a matter; to delay, to hesitate, to pause.
- 7To have doubts; to be doubtful.
- 8Followed by upon: to be captivated or fixated; to dwell on, to linger.
- 9To object or take exception to (something).
- 10To cause delay to (someone or something); to put off.
- 11To have doubts or hesitate about (something).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how demur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I demur to that statement.
The personnel demurred at the management’s new scheme.
Etymology
PIE word *de From Middle English demuren (“to delay; to linger; to remain (in office); to keep, retain (?)”), from Anglo-Norman demorer and Old French demorer, demourer (“to remain, stay”) (modern French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin dēmorāre, from Latin dēmorārī, the present active infinitive of Latin dēmoror (“to delay, detain; to linger, tarry”), from de- (intensifying prefix) + moror (“to delay, detain; to hinder, impede; to linger, loiter”) (from mora (“a delay; hindrance, obstacle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking; to remember”), probably referring to a time for thinking) + -or (variant of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.