demonstration
nounUS, UK /dɛmənˈstɹeɪʃən/
Etymology From Middle English demonstracioun, from Old French demonstration, from Latin dēmōnstrātiōnem, from dēmōnstrāre (“show or explain”), from dē- (“of or concerning”) + mōnstrāre (“show”). Morphologically demonstrate + -ion.
7 senses
- 1The act of demonstrating; showing or explaining something.
- 2A prisoner's act of beating up another prisoner.
- 3An event at which something will be demonstrated.
- 4Expression of one's feelings by outward signs.
- 5A public display of group opinion, such as a protest march.
- 6A show of military force.
- 7A proof.
1
The act of demonstrating; showing or explaining something.
- [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.1577, Socrates Scholasticus [i.e., Socrates of Constantinople], “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie about the Feast of Easter, and the Rootinge out of the Heresie of Arius”, in Eusebius Pamphilus, Socrates Scholasticus, Evagrius Scholasticus, Dorotheus, translated by Meredith Hanmer, The Avncient Ecclesiasticall Histories of the First Six Hundred Yeares after Christ, Wrytten in the Greeke Tongue by Three Learned Historiographers, Eusebius, Socrates, and Euagrius. …, book I (The First Booke of the Ecclesiasticall Historye of Socrates Scholasticvs), imprinted at London: By Thomas Vautroullier dwelling in the Blackefriers by Ludgate, →OCLC, page 225:
2
Slang A prisoner's act of beating up another prisoner.
3
An event at which something will be demonstrated.
- I have to give a demonstration to the class tomorrow, and I'm ill-prepared.
4
Expression of one's feelings by outward signs.
5
A public display of group opinion, such as a protest march.
- It's produced tremendous activism and backlash: there's been all sorts of demonstrations and mobilizations in civil society, there's been examples from the people from the Administration being heckled in a restaurant or not served in a restaurant, there's been a growing crescendo of conversation about what that means.2018 June 26, Chris Hayes, quotee, “How bad is it, really? Ezra Klein evaluates life in the Trump era: transcript & podcast”, in Why Is This Happening?:
- Even when there had been hecklers, Victor and other members would focus on setting up their demonstration — signs reading “Let them go now,” and posters bearing the faces of 58 hostages still being held in Gaza.2025 June 3, Danya Gainor and TuAnh Dam, “How a demonstration for Israeli hostages ended in an antisemitic firebombing”, in CNN:
6
A show of military force.
7
Human sciences, Mathematics, Philosophy, Sciences A proof.
- He read the proposition. […] So he reads the demonstration of it, which referred him back to such a proposition,; which proposition he read.a. 1697, John Aubrey, Brief Lives, s.v. Thomas Hobbes
- If, then, proof from the basic truth is more accurate than proof not so derived, demonstration which depends more closely on it is more accurate than demonstration which is less closely dependent.2021 September 21, Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle. Illustrated: Logic, Universal Physics, Human Physics, Animal Physics, Metaphysics, Ethics and Politics and other, Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing:
- Synonyms
- protest, march, parade, manifestation
- Derived terms
- counterdemonstration, demonstrational, demonstration garden, demonstration sport, nondemonstration, redemonstration, return demonstration, telestration
- Related terms
- demo, demonstrable, demonstrate, demonstrator, monster, remonstration