demonstrate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēmonstrātus, the perfect passive participle of dēmonstrō (“to show, point at”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French démontrer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛmənstɹeɪt/
• (Indic, spelling pronunciation) IPA^(key): /deˈmɒnstreːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

demonstrate (third-person singular simple present demonstrates, present participle demonstrating, simple past and past participle demonstrated)

1. (transitive) to show how to use (something).

   Can you demonstrate the new tools for us?

   • 1987 February 8, Richard Zachs, “Candy is dandy (though maybe not liquor) - so for this Valentine's Day, video may be a whole lot more fun”, in The New York Daily News:

     In this tape, a velvet-voiced narrator provides a stroke-by-stroke guide to massaging your partner. As she speaks, comely nude couples demonstrate.

2. to show the steps taken to create a logical argument or equation.
3. (intransitive) to participate in or organize a demonstration.

   Those people outside are demonstrating against the election results.

4. (transitive) to show, display, or present; to prove or make evident
   • 2016, David A. Graham, “Donald Trump's Disastrous Debate”, in The Atlantic, page http://www.theatlantic.com/liveblogs/2016/10/second-presidential-debate-clinton-trump/503495/:

     The debate was not long on policy, as questions about the Affordable Care Act and the war in Syria demonstrated.

   • 2023 March 22, Paul Clifton, “CILT report urges £50m infill electrification schemes”, in RAIL, number 979, page 8:

     "What we are trying to demonstrate is that freight lines at lower speeds can be electrified much more cheaply. […] "

Conjugation

Conjugation of demonstrate

infinitive	(to) demonstrate
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	demonstrate	demonstrated
2nd-person singular	demonstrate, demonstratest†	demonstrated, demonstratedst†
3rd-person singular	demonstrates, demonstrateth†	demonstrated
plural	demonstrate
subjunctive	demonstrate	demonstrated
imperative	demonstrate	—
participles	demonstrating	demonstrated

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• counterdemonstrate
• demonstratable
• demonstratedly
• demonstrative
• demonstrator
• demonstratory
• nondemonstrating
• redemonstrate
• undemonstrated

Related terms

• demo
• demonstrable
• demonstratedly
• demonstration
• monster
• monstrance
• remonstrate

Translations

to show how to use something

Azerbaijani: nümayiş etdirmək Belarusian: пака́зваць impf (pakázvacʹ), паказа́ць (be) pf (pakazácʹ) Bulgarian: показвам (bg) (pokazvam), демонстрирам (bg) (demonstriram) Catalan: demostrar (ca) Danish: demonstrere Dutch: demonstreren (nl) Esperanto: montri (eo), elmontri Finnish: näyttää (fi), demonstroida (fi) French: démontrer (fr) Galician: demostrar (gl) German: demonstrieren (de) Greek: δείχνω (el) (deíchno) Hungarian: bemutat (hu), szemléltet (hu) Ido: demonstrar (io) Italian: dimostrare (it) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Latin: doceo (la) Ligurian: dimostrâ Lushootseed: ʔugʷus Polish: demonstrować (pl) impf, zademonstrować pf Portuguese: demonstrar (pt) Romanian: demonstra (ro) Russian: пока́зывать (ru) impf (pokázyvatʹ), показа́ть (ru) pf (pokazátʹ), (formal) демонстри́ровать (ru) impf (demonstrírovatʹ), продемонстри́ровать (ru) pf (prodemonstrírovatʹ) Slovene: prikazati Spanish: demostrar (es), demonstrar (es) (disused) Swedish: demonstrera (sv), förevisa (sv) Thai: สาธิต (th) (sǎa-tít)

to show the steps taken to create a logical argument or equation

Catalan: demostrar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 论证 (zh) (lùnzhèng) Danish: demonstrere Esperanto: demonstri (eo) Finnish: osoittaa (fi), demonstroida (fi) German: demonstrieren (de), aufzeigen (de) Hungarian: kimutat (hu), igazol (hu), bizonyít (hu), bebizonyít (hu) Italian: dimostrare (it) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Latin: demonstro (la) Ligurian: dimostrâ Polish: demonstrować (pl) impf, zademonstrować pf Portuguese: demonstrar (pt) Russian: демонстри́ровать (ru) impf (demonstrírovatʹ), продемонстри́ровать (ru) pf (prodemonstrírovatʹ) Spanish: demostrar (es) Swedish: demonstrera (sv) Thai: แสดง (th) (sà-dɛɛng)

to participate in a demonstration

Arabic: تَظَاهَر (taẓāhar), احْتَجَّ Bulgarian: демонстрирам (bg) (demonstriram) Czech: demonstrovat Esperanto: manifestacii Finnish: osoittaa mieltään, demonstroida (fi) French: manifester (fr) German: demonstrieren (de) Greek: διαδηλώνω (el) (diadilóno) Hebrew: הפגין (he) (hifgín) Hungarian: tüntet (hu) Italian: manifestare (it) Khmer: please add this translation if you can Maori: porotēhe Norwegian: Bokmål: demonstrere Polish: demonstrować (pl) impf, zademonstrować pf Scottish Gaelic: tog fianais Spanish: manifestar (es) Swedish: demonstrera (sv) Vietnamese: biểu tình (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Spanish: (please verify) evidenciar (es) Volapük: (please verify) demön (vo)

See also

• show
• prove

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /demonsˈtrate/
• Rhymes: -ate

Noun

demonstrate

1. present adverbial passive participle of demonstri

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈmonstrate/

Verb

demonstrate

1. adverbial present passive participle of demonstrar

Latin

Verb

dēmōnstrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēmōnstrō

Participle

dēmōnstrāte

1. vocative masculine singular of dēmōnstrātus