What does demit mean?
"Demit" is a formal verb meaning to resign from, vacate, or formally withdraw from an office, position, or charge. It appears most characteristically in the phrase "demit office," used when officials, judges, trustees, or officeholders step down from their posts, often with an air of ceremony or legal formality. The word derives from Latin dimittere, "to send away" or "dismiss," the same root that gives us admit, emit, permit, and submit. Although it once carried the broader sense of dismissing or sending someone away, that usage has fallen into obscurity, and today the word is largely confined to formal registers, surviving more robustly in British, Scottish, and Indian administrative and legal language than in everyday American speech. Writers reach for "demit" when they want a note of dignity or tradition: one does not merely quit, one demits office. Because of its rarity and its resemblance to "demur," which means to object or hesitate, it should be used carefully and confidently, since even careful readers may momentarily mistake one for the other.
verbTo resign from or withdraw from an office, position, or organization; to relinquish a post or membership voluntarily.
- To resign from or formally withdraw from an office, position, charge, or membership.
- (Archaic) To send away; to dismiss or let go.
"After thirty years of service, the judge chose to demit office quietly, without ceremony."
"The chairman announced that he would demit office at the end of the fiscal year."
"In older legal usage, an official might demit his charge upon appointment of a successor."
Every time you hit 'submit' online, you're using the same Latin root as the rare word "demit" — mit-, meaning to send: one sends you in, the other sends you out.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demit
"Demit" comes from Latin dimittere, formed from dis- ("apart") plus mittere ("to send"), meaning to send away, dismiss, or let go. It entered English through Old French demettre (modern démettre), appearing in Middle English by the late 14th century in Chaucer-era usage with the sense of dismissing or sending away. Over time the dominant sense narrowed to withdrawing oneself from an office or charge, which remains its standard use today. It shares the Latin root mittere with words such as admit, emit, permit, submit, and transmit.
How demit is actually used
Chiefly formal and somewhat rare in modern English; it survives most often in the fixed phrase "demit office," particularly in Indian, Scottish, and other formal or legal contexts. It carries a dignified, slightly archaic connotation compared with the plainness of "resign" or "step down."
Easily confused with demit
"Demur" means to object or express hesitation, while "demit" means to resign or withdraw from a position — they look and sound alike but are unrelated in meaning.