In common English usage "demand" means "insist upon," carrying a strong imperative. However, there are variants like "on-demand" that are closer to the French meaning- "on-demand TV" for example. And there is a 3rd slightly different common usage relating to market consumption/interest: "we're seeing an increase in demand for cocoa." Actually there are at least 3 more slightly different meanings too. Don't you just love English? ;-)
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
