Humiliate cardinal who protects the meek partially (6)
I believe the answer is:
demean
'humiliate' is the definition.
(demeaning is a kind of humiliating)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for demean that I've seen before include "Lower, degrade" , "Lower in status or reputation" , "Stoop" , "Discredit" , "Cause (someone) to suffer loss of dignity" .)