An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Demut

by Friedrich Kluge

Demut, feminine, ‘submissiveness, humility,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dêmuot, diemuot, diemüete, Old High German deomuoti, ‘condescension, gentleness, modesty.’ The correctly developed form from the Old High German deomuoti would be Modern High German Diemüte; the present form is due partly to Low German influence, partly to its having been connected with Armut; but while in the latter -ut is properly a suffix, Old High German deomuoti, feminine, is a compound. The second component is a derivative of Old High German muot (see Mut); Old High German dio, however, is Gothic þius (stem þiwa-; compare dienen, Dirne, and also Degen), ‘hind, servant’; Demut is ‘the befitting quality of a servant, the disposition of the attendant.’ Neither the word nor the idea is Old Teutonic (the Gothic said hauneins, ‘abasement, baseness,’ for Demut); both were introduced by Christianity.