I. Act., to change, alter, and sometimes to alter for the worse, to make worse (repeatedly in Plaut. and in post-Aug. prose; otherwise rare; not in the Ciceronian period): voces demutat, Cato ap. Macr. S. 2, 10 med.; cf.: “orationem meam,” Plaut. Mil. 4, 7, 8: “imperium tuum,” id. Men. 5, 2, 118: “sententiam nostram in iis,” Gell. 17, 1, 6: “caro demutata, Tert. Res. carn. 55 al.: placitum instituto flaminum nihil demutari,” Tac. A. 4, 16: “si demutant mores ingenium tuum,” to make worse, Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 36.—
II. Neutr., to change one's mind or purpose: “non demutabo,” Plaut. Ps. 1, 5, 142; id. ib. 153; cf.: prorsus nihilum de aliqua re, Jul. Val. rer. gest. Alex. 1, 13.—