Link Centre Dictionary

mere

UK/mɪə̯/ US/mɪː/ common literary uk
adjective (2) noun (1)

adjective

1.

being nothing more than specified

  • “a mere child”
Similar
2.

apart from anything else; without additions or modifications

  • “only the bare facts”
  • “shocked by the mere idea”
  • “the simple passage of time was enough”
  • “the simple truth”
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • Branston and Mere
  • mere exposure effect
  • mere mortal
  • mere pool

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.