English Explanatory Dictionary

mere

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected.
  2. Pure, unalloyed .
  3. Nothing less than; complete, downright .
noun
  1. Boundary, limit; a boundary-marker; boundary-line.
verb
  1. To limit; bound; divide or cause division in.
  2. To set divisions and bounds.
  3. To decide upon the position of a boundary; to position it on a map.
noun
  1. A body of standing water, such as a lake or a pond (formerly even a body of seawater), especially a broad, shallow one. (Also included in place names such as Windermere.)
noun
  1. Alternative form of mayor and mair.
noun
  1. A Maori war-club.
name
  1. A village and civil parish in northern Cheshire East district, Cheshire, England (OS grid ref SJ7381).
  2. A small town and civil parish with a town council in south-west Wiltshire, England (OS grid ref ST8132).
  3. A sub-municipality in East Flanders, Belgium.

Pronunciation

/mɪə̯/ /mɪɚ/ en-us-mere.ogg /miə/ /miːɹ/ /mjøː/ /mjɜː/ /mɛː/ /ˈmɛɹi/ /ˈmɛɹɛ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mere.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mere2.wav

Word forms

mere merer merest meres meer meere mear meare mering mered mar

Etymology

From Middle English mere, mer, from Anglo-Norman meer, from Old French mier, from Latin merus (“pure, unmixed, undiluted”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to sparkle, gleam”). Cognate with Old English āmerian, āmyrian (“to purify, examine, revise”). The Middle English word was perhaps influenced by or conflated with sound-alike Middle English mere (“glorious, noble, splendid, fine, pure”), from Old English mǣre (“famous, great, excellent, sublime, splendid, pure, sterling”), from Proto-West Germanic *mārī, from Proto-Germanic *mērijaz.

Synonyms

alone bare just mere only simple very immaculate unadulterated pristine chaste cherry clean flawless halal ideal kosher natural perfect pure simon-pure unalloyed uncontaminated undefiled unpolluted unsullied untainted untouched virgin absolute thorough utter abject frightful arrant categoric categorical complete consummate decided downright full full-blown full-bore full-on outright out-and-out precious proper stark rank regular right root and branch sheer straight-out thoroughgoing total unattenuated uncompromising

Antonyms

total

Related words

merely mereing

Derived words

mere exposure effect merely mere mortal dungmere Hertsmere mareblob marsh meresman merestake merestead merestone meretree Woodmere mere pool mereswine merfolk mermaid merman Branston and Mere
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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