demimonde
UK /ˈdɛmiːmɒnd/ · US /ˈdɛmiˌmɑnd/ noun
Forms demimondes demi-monde
- noun (chiefly historical (19th-century France)) A class of women maintained by wealthy protectors; female courtesans or prostitutes as a group.
- noun (by extension) A group having little respect or reputation. “the literary demimonde”
- noun (by extension) A member of such a class or group of persons.
Etymology
Borrowed from French demi-monde (literally “half-world”), from demi (“half”) + monde (“world; people”); possibly coined by French author and playwright Alexandre Dumas fils as the title of a comedic play, Le Demi Monde (1855): see the quotation from 1864.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Persons of doubtful reputation; esp., women who are kept as mistresses, though not public prostitutes; demireps. Literary demimonde, writers of the lowest kind.
Etymology [F.; demi + monde world, L. mundus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “demimonde”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details