MERER

MERE

-mere. Etym: [Gr.

Definition: A combining form meaning part, portion; as, blastomere, epimere.

Mere, n. Etym: [Written also mar.] Etym: [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.]

Definition: A pool or lake. Drayton. Tennyson.

Mere, n. Etym: [Written also meer and mear.] Etym: [AS. gemære. sq. root269.]

Definition: A boundary. Bacon.

Mere, v. t.

Definition: To divide, limit, or bound. [Obs.] Which meared her rule with Africa. Spenser.

Mere, n.

Definition: A mare. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Mere, a. [Superl. Merest. The comparative is rarely or never used.] Etym: [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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition