demit

Pronounced: dih-MITT, verb

Notes: I know remit, but not demit

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Yesterday’s word

The word rearguard means “of or relating to resistance especially to sweeping social forces”

First usage

This word showed up in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

There is a noun “rear guard” that goes back to the late 1400s. It refers to soldiers that are stationed at the rear of a body to protect it from attack – especially during retreat. Note that the troops as the front are called the “vanguard”. A rearguard action is the defensive or delaying fight waged as resistance against the encroaching enemy. Through figurative extension, the word began to apply to other means of resistance, often by a small force against a more powerful one.