In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
merest
superlative form of mere: most mere
• Emerts, Mester, S meter, Tesmer, mester, meters, metres, restem, termes
Source: Wiktionary
-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
28 March 2025
(noun) a person who invites guests to a social event (such as a party in his or her own home) and who is responsible for them while they are there
In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.