mere

Formsmerer, merest

Pluralmeres

1. 1
   onlyadjective

   No more than what is stated; only that and nothing greater, often stressing how small or unimportant the thing is.

   The repair took a mere ten minutes.

   She won the election by a mere two votes.

   UsageBefore a noun, often a mere + number, even with plurals: a mere two votes. The merest pushes the smallness further.

   Similaronly, bare, simple

   Note

   Here the word shrinks whatever it touches: a mere song, a mere ten minutes. It comes through French from Latin merus, "pure, unmixed", and "nothing but" is where "pure" ended up. It sits before its noun, and its superlative is livelier than it looks. Bill Bryson's "the merest sliver" compares nothing; it pushes the smallness further. The same idea drives Isaac Watts's "a meer Idea" in 1733. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The adjective came through French from Latin merus, meaning pure or unmixed; its restrictive meaning developed from this sense. en.wiktionary.org
   • Bill Bryson used the phrase "the merest sliver" in A Short History of Nearly Everything. en.wiktionary.org
   • Isaac Watts wrote "a meer Idea" in Philosophical Essays on Various Subjects. en.wiktionary.org
   • Watts's Philosophical Essays on Various Subjects was published in 1733. wellcomecollection.org
2. 2
   lakenoundialectalUKcountable

   A body of still water such as a lake or pond, especially a broad, shallow one.

   Mist drifted across the mere as the sun rose.

   The village sat beside a wide, reedy mere.

   Similarlake, pond, pool

   Note

   A third, unrelated word lies behind the water sense: Old English mere, "lake". In poetry it could mean the sea, as German Meer still does. English now keeps it in dialect, in place names such as Windermere, and in literary landscape: Walter Scott's "deadest mere", or Tennyson's mere "round as the red eye of an Eagle-owl". Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • The water noun has a separate origin in Old English mere, meaning lake or sea. en.wikipedia.org
   • Old English mere could mean sea in poetry. en.wiktionary.org
   • German Meer means sea. en.wiktionary.org
   • Windermere contains Old English mere, meaning lake or pool. en.wikipedia.org
   • Walter Scott used "deadest mere" in the narration of Peveril of the Peak. gutenberg.org
   • Tennyson described a mere as "Round as the red eye of an Eagle-owl" in Gareth and Lynette. d.lib.rochester.edu
3. 3
   adjectiveobsolete

   Pure and unmixed, and so complete or absolute; sheer.

   Note

   A meaning that stays close to Latin merus, and one a modern reader easily misreads. When Spenser's heart melts "with meere compassion", it melts with pure compassion, not merely compassion. John Florio's Montaigne (1603) uses meere where the French has pure. In older texts, test the word by swapping in pure. In new writing it will be read as the everyday "only" sense, so it is best left in the past. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Latin merus means pure or unmixed, matching this older meaning of mere. en.wiktionary.org
   • Spenser wrote the quoted words in the poetic narrator's voice. talus.artsci.wustl.edu
   • The quotation exemplifies the older pure or unalloyed sense. en.wiktionary.org
   • John Florio's English translation of Montaigne was first published in 1603. archive.org
   • Florio uses meere in the relevant passage. hyperessays.net
   • Montaigne's corresponding French wording uses pure. fr.wikisource.org

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