The ancient Greek word δῆμος (dêmos) means “the people” or “the population.” Once you recognize this root, several familiar English words suddenly become much easier to understand.
Take democracy. It comes from dêmos, meaning people, and kratos, meaning power or rule. So democracy literally means “rule by the people.”
The same root appears in demography—the study or description of populations—and demographic, which refers to characteristics of groups of people such as age, income, or location.
Even demagogue originally had a fairly innocent meaning. It combines dêmos (people) with agōgos (leader), literally meaning “leader of the people.” Over time, however, the word acquired a negative meaning: a leader who wins support by stirring emotions, fears, or prejudices.
Perhaps the most interesting examples are epidemic, endemic, and pandemic.
Epidemic comes from epi (upon) + dêmos (people)—something that comes upon a population.
Endemic comes from en (within) + dêmos—something that exists within a particular population or region.
And pandemic combines pan (all) with dêmos (people), giving us the literal idea of something affecting “all the people.”
So the next time you encounter words containing demo- or -demic, remember the ancient Greek dêmos. Hidden inside these modern words is a simple idea that has survived for thousands of years:
the people.
