merus

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μηρός (mērós, “thigh”).

Noun

merus (plural meri)

1. (rare, obsolete) The thigh. [18th–19th c.]
2. (zoology) The meropodite; the first segment of the raptorial appendage of a crustacean. [from 19th c.]
3. (architecture) The plane surface between the channels of a triglyph. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• meral

Anagrams

• semur, resum, Reums, serum, Mureș, Remus, muser, Muser, murse, mures, Sumer, Esrum

Latin

Etymology

Traditionally derived from a Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to sparkle, glimmer, gleam”), and compared with Ancient Greek μαρμαίρω (marmaírō, “to flash, sparkle”), Sanskrit मरीचि (marīci, “beam, ray”), Old Irish emer, and Proto-Germanic *mērijaz (“famous”). However, de Vaan expresses skepticism at the semantic shift from "shine" > "pure", and prefers Puhvel's derivation from Proto-Indo-European *merH-o-s, from a Proto-Indo-European *merH- (“to remain, be distilled and pure”), whence Hittite [script needed] (marri, “just so, gratuitously”).

Old English āmerian (“to purify”) is a borrowing from the Latin, according to Kroonen.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈme.rus/, [ˈmɛrʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.rus/, [ˈmɛːrus]

Adjective

merus (feminine mera, neuter merum); first/second-declension adjective

1. sheer, undiluted, pure (especially of wine)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	merus	mera	merum		merī	merae	mera
genitive	merī	merae	merī		merōrum	merārum	merōrum
dative	merō	merae	merō		merīs
accusative	merum	meram	merum		merōs	merās	mera
ablative	merō	merā	merō		merīs
vocative	mere	mera	merum		merī	merae	mera

Derived terms

• merum imperium
• merācus

Descendants

• Catalan: mer
• Old French: mier
  • → Middle English: mere, mer
    • English: mere
• Italian: mero
• Portuguese: mero
• Spanish: mero

Further reading

• “merus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “merus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "merus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• merus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “merus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly