Demi-monde

an expre ion first used by the younger Dumas in a drama of the same name (first performed in 1855), to denote that cla of female adventurers who are only half-acknowledged in society popularly, disreputable female society; courtesans. Demise (a laying down), in law, a@ grant by lease; is applied to an estate either in fee-simple, fee-tail, or for a term of life or years. As applied to the crown of England, demise signifies its transmi ion to the next heir on being laid down by the sovereign at death.