mere

¹

[ meer ]

adjective

, superlative mer·est.

1. being nothing more nor better than:

   a mere pittance;

   He is still a mere child.

2. Obsolete.
   1. pure and unmixed, as wine, a people, or a language.
   2. fully as much as what is specified; completely fulfilled or developed; absolute.

mere

²

[ meer ]

noun

1. Chiefly British Dialect. a lake or pond.
2. Obsolete. any body of sea water.

mere

³

or mear

[ meer ]

noun

, British Dialect.

1. a boundary or boundary marker.

mère

⁴

[ mer; English mair ]

noun

, French.

, plural mères [me, r, mairz].

1. mother ¹.

-mere

⁵

1. a combining form meaning “part,” used in the formation of compound words:

   blastomere.

mere

¹

/ ˈmɛrɪ /

noun

1. a short flat striking weapon

mere

²

/ mɪə /

adjective

1. being nothing more than something specified

   she is a mere child

-mere

³

combining form

1. indicating a part or division

   blastomere

mere

⁴

/ mɪə /

noun

1. archaic.
   a boundary or boundary marker

mere

⁵

/ mɪə /

noun

1. archaic.
   a lake or marsh
2. obsolete.
   the sea or an inlet of it

–mere

1. A suffix meaning “part” or “segment,” as in blastomere, one of the cells that form a blastula.

Derived Forms

• -meric, combining_form:in_adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mere¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mer(e) “pure, clear, unmixed,” from Old French mier, mer, from Latin merus “pure, unmixed, simple, mere”

Origin of mere²

First recorded before 900; Middle English mere, mer, meire, Old English mer, mære “sea, ocean, lake, pond, well, cistern,” cognate with German Meer, Old Norse marr, Gothic marei, Old Irish muir, Latin mare

Origin of mere³

First recorded before 900; Middle English mere, mer, merre, Old English mǣre, gemǣre; cognate with Old Norse mæri “boundary, border land”; akin to Latin mūrus “defensive wall, city wall, boundary wall”

Origin of mere⁴

Combining form representing Greek méros

Word History and Origins

Origin of mere¹

Māori

Origin of mere²

C15: from Latin merus pure, unmixed

Origin of mere³

from Greek meros part, portion

Origin of mere⁴

Old English gemǣre

Origin of mere⁵

Old English mere sea, lake; related to Old Saxon meri sea, Old Norse marr, Old High German mari; compare Latin mare

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

These matters are not mere threats to abstract constitutional principles.

From The Daily Beast

Her Miss America win transcended mere superficial beauty standards.

From The Daily Beast

Scalise spoke about taxes and government slush funds for a mere 15 minutes, Knight said.

From The Daily Beast

Business questions are raised—who starts a PE firm and bails on it in a matter of mere months?

From The Daily Beast

Human vision is as close as we mere mortals will ever come to having a genuine superpower.

From The Daily Beast

All elements of expression modify each other, so that no mere rule can cover all cases.

From Project Gutenberg

All my musical studies till now have been a mere going to school, a preparation for him.

From Project Gutenberg

And is this a mere fantastic talk, or is this a thing that could be done and that ought to be done?

From Project Gutenberg

He said no more in words, but his little blue eyes had an eloquence that left nothing to mere speech.

From Project Gutenberg

The real experience has a magnetism of its own and will win above mere technicality whenever it has the opportunity.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bare
• minor
• pure
• sheer
• simple

Words That Use -mere

What does -mere mean?

The combining form -mere is used like a suffix meaning “part.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in biology and anatomy.

The form -mere comes from Greek méros, meaning “part” or “portion.” From this same source, we also get the combining forms -mer and -merous. Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use entries for both forms.

Examples of -mere

One example of a scientific term that features the combining form -mere is osteomere, “one of a series of similar bone segments, such as a vertebra.”

The combining form osteo- means “bone,” from Greek ostéon. Because -mere means “part,” osteomere literally translates to “bone part.”

What are some words that use the combining form -mere?

• adenomere
• macromere
• metamere
• neuromere
• podomere
• sarcomere
• uromere

Though they’re spelled similarly, the combining form -mere is not related to the adjective mere. Find out more at our entry for mere.

Break it down!

The combining form neuro- means “nerves” or “nervous system.” With this in mind, what does the anatomical term neuromere literally mean?