Dealing with contango and backwardation in economics, ran across “demurrage” (late fees in shipping).

That led to an interesting consideration of both “demur,” and “demure.”

Demur seems to come from Latin “morari,” delay, in turn related to moratorium.

Demure, say some, arises from “ripe,” hence “discreet,” and is related to Latin “maturus.” Others point to “demorer,” meaning “stay.”

So is it discreet to delay?

It's a great question, Robert, but unfortunately I can't answer it.

Yet another dictionary says that demure comes from the past participle of demurer.