All 3 Uses of
demonstrate
in
Othello, the Moor of Venice
- For, sir, It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In complement extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.Scene 1.1demonstrate = show
- And this may help to thicken other proofs
That do demonstrate thinly.Scene 3.3
- Something sure of state,
Either from Venice or some unhatched practice
Made demonstrable here in Cyprus to him,
Hath puddled his clear spirit, and in such cases
Men's natures wrangle with inferior things,
Though great ones are their object.Scene 3.4 *demonstrable = proven or knownstandard suffix: The suffix "-able" means able to be. This is the same pattern you see in words like breakable, understandable, and comfortable.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(demonstrate as in: It demonstrates my point.) to showThe exact meaning of this sense of demonstrate can depend upon its context. For example:
- "I will demonstrate how to throw a Frisbee." -- show how to do something
- "I will demonstrate how much quicker the new computer is than the old one." -- show how something works
- "Her questioned demonstrated that she was listening and thinking deeply about what was said." -- showed to be true or proved
-
(2)
(demonstrate as in: demonstrate to protest) a public display supporting a cause -- usually joining with others in a political protest
- (3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)