demonryn.

1775 Monthly Rev. Aug. 102 Sublimity of genius has been generally attended with a strong affection for the dæmonry of the ancient northern fable. Milton was particularlly fond of it.

1815 Scots Mag. Aug. 573/2 A metrical romance [is] a fabulous legend, or a fictitious recital in verse, blending the probable with the marvellous, and conjuring up all the demonry of a superstitious age and country.

1854 F. W. Newman Phases of Faith (ed. 4) ix. 200 It is hard to enlighten one, who, after the outward washing of Christian baptism, has gone back into the mire of Pagan demonry.

1942 C. A. Smith Out of Space & Time (2006) II. 29 He could not know what forces of wizardry or demonry had willed to draw him thus; but he knew that his situation was fraught with supernatural menace.

1994 Independent (Nexis) 4 Apr. 16 This skeleton with skin looked not unlike one of those devils you see in evocations of demonry on 13th-century Tuscan church walls.

2000 Irish Times (Nexis) 29 Apr. 24 (headline) May Day links to witchcraft and demonry.

1805 I. Disraeli Flim-flams! I. xiii. 200 I console myself that I cannot possibly live out the present century, when all this dæmonry [sc. experiments in chemistry] will probably be daily practised.

1876 Inter Ocean (Chicago) 5 Apr. 4/2 The infamy that attaches to the Kuklux organizations belongs to the whole people of a State that permits and tolerates such demonry.

1939 Rev. Politics 1 408 The demonry of nature in the ancient and medieval world is supplanted by the demonry of social institutions.

1990 R. H. Stone in P. Tillich Theol. of Peace 13 The demonry expressed in National Socialism's anti-Semitism.

2005 New Statesman (Nexis) 3 Oct. The demonry of al-Zarqawi is central to the Pentagon's ‘Strategic Information’ programme, set up to shape news coverage of the occupation.

1826 J. Baillie Martyr i. ii. 12 First Officer. What demonry, thinkest thou, possesses Varus? Second Officer. That is well urged... Is he a maniac?

1883 A. Domett Ranolf & Amohia (rev. ed.) I. ii. 198 But to his fancy now the crowd appeared A Gorgon-eyed and grinning demonry.

1887 R. Atkinson tr. Passions & Homilies from Leabhar Breac ix. 366 A great crowd of the Jews..cried out, saying that ‘there had never come a prophet like Jesus, and that all the demonry was subject to Him.’ Pilate said to the Jews:—‘Why are not the demons subject to your teachers, as they are to Jesus?’

1920 J. Galsworthy Tatterdemalion i. v. 110 A carnival of leaping demonry! A dream—unutterably bad!

1988 B. Sterling Gulf Wars in Globalhead (1994) 142 At such times the demonry are most active. They swarm about you, things of chaos.

1994 Slavic Rev. 53 1031 None of this was repeated, either the mini-devils at the window or the demonry at the door.