mere

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Used to stress that something is small or unimportant; nothing more than.

   The mere thought of the exam made her nervous.

2. 2
   adj

   Being nothing more than what is stated.

   He was a mere child when his family moved abroad.

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.

Topics