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mere

 - 10 dictionary results

mere

1  [meer]
Use mere 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.

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

mere

3  [meer]
–noun British Dialect.
a boundary or boundary marker.
Also, mear.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE (ge)mǣre; c. ON mǣri; akin to L mūrus wall, rim

mère

  [mer; Eng. mair]
–noun, plural mères  [mer; Eng. mairz] . French.
mother.

-mere

 
a combining form meaning “part,” used in the formation of compound words: blastomere.
Compare -mer, -merous.

Origin:
comb. form repr. Gk méros
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mere
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.]
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.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

-mere or -mer
suff.
Part; segment: blastomere, polymer.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
-mere or -mer  
A suffix meaning "part" or "segment," as in blastomere, one of the cells that form a blastula.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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