-merous
See also: mérous
English
Etymology
From French -mère and its etymon Ancient Greek -μερής (-merḗs, “having (the specified number of) parts”, “sharing”): the combining form of μέρος (méros, “part”)) with the English suffix -ous; compare the English -mer and -mere, as well as the French -mère and the German -mer.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: -mərəs, IPA(key): /-məɹəs/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: -mərəs, IPA(key): /-məɹəs/
Suffix
-merous
- (biology, forming adjectives) Having parts of the specified quality.
- (chiefly botany and zoology, forming adjectives) Comprising the specified number of parts.
Usage notes
- In biological descriptions, it is common to use numbers instead the Greek prefixes.
Derived terms
References
- “-merous” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (second edition, 1989)
- “-merous, comb. form” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (draft revision, June 2010)