different between demeanor vs posture

English

Alternative forms

• demeanour (British spelling)

Etymology

From Middle English demenen, demeinen, from Anglo-Norman demener, from Old French demener, from de- + mener (“to conduct, lead”) + -or, from Latin *min?re (“to drive”) and Latin min?r? (“to project or jut forth”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??mi?n?(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d??min?/
• Rhymes: -i?n?(?)
• Hyphenation: de?mea?nor

Noun

demeanor (countable and uncountable, plural demeanors)

1. (American spelling) The social, non-verbal behaviours (such as body language and facial expressions) that are characteristic of a person.

   The man's demeanor made others suspicious of his intentions.

   A confident demeanor is crucial for persuading others.

Synonyms

• behavior
• comportment

Related terms

• demean
• misdemeanor

Translations

Further reading

• demeanor in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• demeanor in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• enamored, one-armed

English

Etymology

From French, from Italian postura, from Latin posit?ra (“position, situation”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?st??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??st??/

Noun

posture (countable and uncountable, plural postures)

1. The way a person holds and positions their body.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus

     As if that whatsoever god who leads him / Were slily crept into his human powers, / And gave him graceful posture.

   • 1689 (or earlier), Aphra Behn, Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister

     […] walking in a most dejected posture, without a band, unbraced, his arms a-cross his open breast, and his eyes bent to the floor;

   • 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

     Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent posture. It is most indecorous.

2. A situation or condition.
   • 1905, David Graham Phillips, The Deluge

     Even as I was reading these fables of my millions, there lay on the desk before me a statement of the exact posture of my affairs […]

   • 1910, H.G. Wells, The History of Mr Polly

     Uncle Jim stopped amazed. His brain did not instantly rise to the new posture of things.

3. One's attitude or the social or political position one takes towards an issue or another person.
   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

     ...that is, their Forts, Garrisons, and Guns upon the Frontiers of their Kingdomes; and continuall Spyes upon their neighbours; which is a posture of War.

   • 1912, G.K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

     But it is not true, no sane person can call it true, that man as a whole in his general attitude towards the world, in his posture towards death or green fields, towards the weather or the baby, will be wise to cultivate dissatisfaction.

4. (rare) The position of someone or something relative to another; position; situation.
   • 1661, Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World

     The Moon beheld in any posture, in respect of the Sun and us, sheweth us its superficies ... always equally clear.

   • As for the guides, they were debarred from the pleasure of discourse, the one being placed in the van, and the other obliged to bring up the rear. / In this posture they travelled many hours, till they came into a wide and well-beaten road […]

Translations

Verb

posture (third-person singular simple present postures, present participle posturing, simple past and past participle postured)

1. (intransitive) to put one's body into a posture or series of postures, especially hoping that one will be noticed and admired

2. (intransitive) to pretend to have an opinion or a conviction

3. (transitive) To place in a particular position or attitude; to pose.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Howell to this entry?)

Translations

Anagrams

• -pterous, Proteus, Puertos, Stroupe, Troupes, petrous, pourest, pouters, proteus, septuor, spouter, store up, troupes

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?s.ty?/

Noun

posture f (plural postures)

1. posture, attitude
2. conduct, comportment

Descendants

• ? Romanian: postur?

Italian

Noun

posture f

1. plural of postura

Anagrams

• sputerò, stupore