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Merest

 - 3 dictionary results

mere

1  [meer]
Use Merest in a Sentence
–adjective, superlative mer⋅est.
1. being nothing more nor better than: a mere pittance; He is still a mere child.
2. Obsolete.
a. pure and unmixed, as wine, a people, or a language.
b. fully as much as what is specified; completely fulfilled or developed; absolute.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < L merus pure, unmixed, mere

Synonyms:
1. Mere, bare imply a scant sufficiency. They are often interchangeable, but mere frequently means no more than (enough). Bare suggests scarcely as much as (enough). Thus a mere livelihood means enough to live on but no more; a bare livelihood means scarcely enough to live on.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Merest
mere 1   (mîr)   
adj.   Superlative mer·est

  1. Being nothing more than what is specified: a mere child; a mere 50 cents an hour.

  2. Considered apart from anything else: shocked by the mere idea.

  3. Small; slight: could detect only the merest whisper.

  4. Obsolete Pure; unadulterated.


[Middle English, absolute, pure, from Old French mier, pure, from Latin merus.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mere  (adj.)
c.1400, "unmixed," from O.Fr. mier "pure, entire," from L. merus "unmixed, pure, bare," used of wine, probably originally "clear, bright," from PIE *mer- "to gleam, glimmer, sparkle" (cf. O.E. amerian "to purify," O.Ir. emer "not clear," Skt. maricih "ray, beam," Gk. marmarein "to gleam, glimmer"). Original sense of "nothing less than, absolute" (1536, now only in vestiges such as mere folly) existed for centuries alongside opposite sense of "nothing more than" (1581, e.g. a mere dream).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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