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Synonyms
mere
- 15 dictionary resultsmere
1
[meer] 
–adjective, superlative mer⋅est.
| 1. | being nothing more nor better than: a mere pittance; He is still a mere child. |
| 2. | Obsolete.
|
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < L merus pure, unmixed, mere
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.
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.
mere
2 [meer] –noun
| 1. | Chiefly British Dialect. a lake or pond. |
| 2. | Obsolete. any body of sea water. |
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE; c. G Meer, ON marr, Goth marei, OIr muir, L mare
bef. 900; ME, OE; c. G Meer, ON marr, Goth marei, OIr muir, L mare
mere
3 [meer] –noun British Dialect.
| a boundary or boundary marker. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To mere
| mere 1 (mîr) adj. Superlative mer·est
[Middle English, absolute, pure, from Old French mier, pure, from Latin merus.] |
| mere 2 (mîr) n. A small lake, pond, or marsh: "Sometimes on lonely mountain meres/I find a magic bark" (Tennyson). [Middle English, from Old English; see mori- in Indo-European roots.] |
| mere 3 (mîr) n. Archaic A boundary. [Middle English, from Old English mǣre.] |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Mere
Mere\, n. [Written also mar.] [OE. mere, AS. mere mere, sea; akin to D. meer lake, OS. meri sea, OHG. meri, mari, G. meer, Icel. marr, Goth. marei, Russ. more, W. mor, Ir. & Gael. muir, L. mare, and perh. to L. mori to die, and meaning originally, that which is dead, a waste. Cf. Mortal, Marine, Marsh, Mermaid, Moor.] A pool or lake. --Drayton. Tennyson.Mere
Mere\, n. [Written also meer and mear.] [AS. gem[=ae]re. [root]269.] A boundary. --Bacon.Mere
Mere\, v. t. To divide, limit, or bound. [Obs.] Which meared her rule with Africa. --Spenser.Mere
Mere\, n. A mare. [Obs.] --Chaucer.Mere
Mere\, a. [Superl. Merest. The comparative is rarely or never used.] [L. merus.]1. Unmixed; pure; entire; absolute; unqualified. Then entered they the mere, main sea. --Chapman. The sorrows of this world would be mere and unmixed. --Jer. Taylor. 2. Only this, and nothing else; such, and no more; simple; bare; as, a mere boy; a mere form. From mere success nothing can be concluded in favor of any nation. --Atterbury.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mere
Spanish:
simple, mero,
German:
bloß, rein,
Japanese:
ほんの
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).
mere (n.)
O.E. mere "sea, lake, pool, pond," from P.Gmc. *mari (cf. O.N. marr, O.S. meri "sea," Du. meer "lake," O.H.G. mari, Ger. Meer "sea," Goth. marei "sea," mari-saiws "lake"), from PIE *mori-/*mari "sea" (cf. L. mare, O.C.S. morje, Rus. more, Lith. mares, O.Ir. muir, Welsh mor "sea," Gaulish Are-morici "people living near the sea").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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