demur [ME] Demur ‘raise doubts or objections’, was first recorded as meaning ‘linger, delay’. The source of the verb is Old French demourer, based on Latin de- ‘away, completely’ and morari ‘delay, stay’. Demure [LME] with which it is often confused, probably comes from the same French word, influenced by Old French mur ‘grave’ (from Latin maturus ‘ripe or mature’ source of mature [LME]). Early meanings of demure were ‘sober, serious, reserved’as well as ‘reserved, shy’.