1. Plural of deme; in ancient Greece, a subdivision of Attica used for administrative and political purposes, or a local population of organisms of the same species.
Usage: historical (ancient Greece); biology/ecology

Examples

• The demes of ancient Attica served as the basic units of Athenian democracy.
• Citizens were registered in their local demes for voting purposes.
• In evolutionary biology, demes refer to interbreeding populations within a larger species.
• The demes of Athens were reorganized by Cleisthenes in the 6th century BCE.
• Genetic variation between demes can indicate different evolutionary pressures.