Demos
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An ancient subdivision of Attica; (now also) a Greek municipality, an administrative area covering a city or several villages together.
- 2 plural of demo form-of, plural
- 3 The ordinary citizens of an ancient Greek city-state; hence, the common populace of a state or district (especially a democratic one); the people. plural, singular
"When the demos took charge, law and order inevitably collapsed, or so they concluded."
- 1 third-person singular simple present indicative of demo form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Example
More examples"All the old despots were demagogues; at least, they were demagogues whenever they were really trying to please or impress the demos. If they poured out beer for their vassals it was because both they and their vassals had a taste for beer. If (in some slightly different mood) they poured melted lead on their vassals, it was because both they and their vassals had a strong distaste for melted lead."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek δῆμος (dêmos, “ordinary citizens, common people from a district, in a city-state”). Doublet of deme.
From demo + -s.
Related phrases
More for "demos"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.