Etymograph

English

demystify

Demystify comes from French démystifier ‘to demystify’, from mystifier ‘to mystify, fool’, and ultimately from mysta.

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentmysta1
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentmystifier2‘to mystify, fool’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémystifier3‘to demystify’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023demystify3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French mystifier
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French démystifier
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English demystify
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Cecilia Kang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman Urges A.I. Regulation in Senate Hearing: “Our goal is to demystify and hold accountable those…”.

Lineage

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentmystaWiktionary, French mystifier
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentmystifierWiktionary, French démystifier‘to mystify, fool’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentdémystifierWiktionary, English demystify‘to demystify’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023demystifyWiktionary, English demystify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Cecilia Kang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman Urges A.I. Regulation in Senate Hearing: “Our goal is to demystify and hold accountable those…”

Formed from de- + mystify

Latin dē ‘of; from’

English de-

Proto-Indo-European *mewH-ye-

…

Ancient Greek μυέω ‘to initiate into mysteries’

Ancient Greek μῠ́στης ‘one who has been initiated’

Ancient Greek μυστικός ‘secret, mystic’

French mystifier ‘to mystify, fool’

English mystify

Every English word from French mysta

Today it means

verb To remove the mystery from something; to explain or clarify.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “demystify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French mystifier, French démystifier. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / French mysta / demystify

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