demimonde
English
WOTD – 18 October 2018
Etymology
An 1895 photographic portrait of Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, by Pierre-Louis Pierson.[1] The Countess, who became a mistress of Napoleon III of France, was widely regarded as one of the demimonde (sense 1).
Borrowed from French demi-monde (literally “half-world”), from demi (“half”) + monde (“world; people”); possibly coined by Alexandre Dumas, fils, as the title of a comedic play, Le Demi Monde (1855).[2]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɛmiːmɒnd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɛmiˌmɑnd/
- Hyphenation: de‧mi‧monde
Noun
demimonde (plural demimondes)
- (chiefly historical (19th-century France)) A class of women maintained by wealthy protectors; female courtesans or prostitutes as a group.
- (by extension) A group having little respect or reputation.
- the literary demimonde
Alternative forms
- demi-monde
Coordinate terms
Related terms
Translations
class of women maintained by wealthy protectors
group having little respect or reputation
References
- ↑ From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, USA.
- ↑ Alexandre Dumas (1855) Le Demi Monde : Comédie en 5 Actes, en Prose, Paris: M. Lévy, OCLC 762681928
Further reading
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