mere

¹ American  

[meer] / mɪər /

noun

1. Chiefly British Dialect. a lake or pond.

2. Obsolete. any body of sea water.

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mère ² American  

[mer, mair] / mɛr, mɛər /

noun

French.

plural

mères

1. mother.

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mere ³ American  

[meer] / mɪər /

Or mear

noun

British Dialect.

1. a boundary or boundary marker.

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-mere ⁴ American  

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

   blastomere.

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mere ⁵ American  

[meer] / mɪər /

adjective

superlative

merest

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.

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mere ¹ British  

/ mɪə /

adjective

1. being nothing more than something specified

   she is a mere child

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mere ² British  

/ mɪə /

noun

1. archaic a lake or marsh

2. obsolete the sea or an inlet of it

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mere ³ British  

/ ˈmɛrɪ /

noun

1. a short flat striking weapon

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mere ⁴ British  

/ mɪə /

noun

1. archaic a boundary or boundary marker

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-mere ⁵ British  

combining form

1. indicating a part or division

   blastomere

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–mere Scientific  

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

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Usage

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.

Related Words

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.

Other Word Forms

• -meric combining form

Etymology

Origin of mere¹

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 mere¹

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 -mere¹

Combining form representing Greek méros

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”

Example Sentences

Batty was more than a mere enforcer, however.

From BBC

Even though users didn’t have to post under real names, the mere fact that the platform knew who they were improved discourse, said Kanyuan Huang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the study’s co-author.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the American must be due to rediscover the form that brought two majors in 2024 and render last year's injury-induced inconsistency a mere blip in a fine career to date.

From BBC

At the same time, investors said 2026 is the year AI platforms and agents transition from being mere shiny dashboards and nice-to-have chatbots to competent autonomous workers managing entire workflows.

From The Wall Street Journal

Characterized as “myths,” for example, were the age-old beliefs that Native Americans mistook the conquistadors for gods, and that a mere handful of Spaniards toppled great empires with ease.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bare
• minor
• pure
• sheer
• simple