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

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

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to sparkle, glimmer, gleam”); see also Ancient Greek μαρμαίρω (marmaírō), Sanskrit मरीचि (marīci, “beam, ray”), Old Irish emer, and Old English amerian (“to purify”).

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.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	merus	mera	merum		merī	merae	mera
Genitive	merī	merae	merī		merōrum	merārum	merōrum
Dative	merō		merō		merīs
Accusative	merum	meram	merum		merōs	merās	mera
Ablative	merō	merā	merō		merīs
Vocative	mere	mera	merum		merī	merae	mera

Descendants

• Catalan: mer
• English: mere
• Italian: mero
• Portuguese: mero
• Spanish: mero

References

• “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