mere
adj. · n.-
1 only or just (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediateused to emphasize how small or unimportant something is.
used to emphasize that the subject is nothing more than what is specified, often highlighting its insignificance or small scale.
ExampleThe cost of the repair was a mere ten dollars, which was much less than I expected.
ExampleThe entire project was derailed by a mere technicality that the legal team had overlooked during the initial review.
UsageAlways used before a noun; it cannot be used after a verb like 'is'.
PitfallIt was a mere of five dollars.It was a mere five dollars.The word 'mere' is an adjective and should come directly before the noun or number it describes without 'of'.
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2 a lake or pond (n.) C1 Advanced Literary British English Dialecta lake or a large pond, often used in old stories or British place names.
a body of standing water, typically a broad, shallow lake. Often encountered in toponymy or period literature.
ExampleThe old castle stood on the edge of a quiet mere, surrounded by thick fog.
ExampleThe poet described the moon reflecting off the silver surface of the mere, capturing the stillness of the English countryside at twilight.
Teacher's tipModern learners will mostly see this in place names like 'Windermere' or in fantasy novels.
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.
From Middle English mere, from Old English mǣre, ġemǣre (“boundary; limit”), from Proto-Germanic mairiją (“boundary”), from Proto-Indo-European mey- (“to fence”). Cognate with Dutch meer (“a limit, boundary”), Icelandic mærr (“borderland”), Swedish landamäre (“border, borderline, boundary”).
From Middle English mere, from Old English mere (“lake, pool,” in compounds and poetry “sea”), from Proto-West Germanic mari (“sea”), from Proto-Germanic mari, from Proto-Indo-European *móri. Cognate with West Frisian mar, 'lake', Dutch meer, 'lake', Low German Meer, and German Meer, 'sea'. Non-Germanic cognates include Latin mare, Breton mor, and Russian мо́ре (móre). Doublet of maar and mare (“a large, dark plain; a lake on Titan”).
See mayor.
Borrowed from Māori mere (“more”).
- Adjectivemere
- Adverbmerely