Mere, mēr, n. a pool or lake.—Also Meer. [A.S. mere; Ger. and Dut. meer, L. mare, the sea.]
Mere, mēr, adj. unmixed: pure: only this and nothing else: alone: absolute.—adj. Mered (Shak.), only, entire.—adv. Mere′ly, purely, simply: only: thus and no other way: solely. [L. merus, unmixed (of wine).]
Mere, mēr, n. a boundary.—v.t. to limit or bound.—ns. Mere′stead, the land within the boundaries of a farm: Mere′stone, a stone which marks a boundary. [A.S. ge-mǽre.]
Meretricious, mer-e-trish′us, adj. of or pertaining to harlots: alluring by false show: gaudy and deceitful: false.—adv. Meretric′iously.—ns. Meretric′iousness; Mer′etrix, a harlot. [L. meretricius—meretrix, a harlot, merēre, to earn.]
Merganser, mėr-gan′sėr, n. a diving bird, sea-duck. [L. mergus, a diving bird, anser, a goose.]
Merge, mėrj, v.t. to dip or plunge in: to sink: to cause to be swallowed up.—v.i. to be swallowed up, or lost.—n. Mer′ger (law), a sinking of an estate or a security in one of larger extent or of higher value. [L. mergĕre, mersum.]
Mericarp, mer′i-karp, n. one carpel or part of the fruit of an umbelliferous plant. [Gr. meros, a part, karpos, fruit.]
Meridian, me-rid′i-an, adj. pertaining to midday: being on the meridian or at midday: raised to the highest point.—n. midday: a midday dram: the highest point, as of success: an imaginary circle on the earth's surface passing through the poles and any given place: (astron.) an imaginary circle, passing through the poles of the heavens, and the zenith of the spectator, which the sun crosses at midday.—adj. Merid′ional, pertaining to the meridian: southern: having a southern aspect.—n. Meridional′ity.—adv. Merid′ionally.—Meridian splendour, fullest point of brightness; Meridian sun, the sun at its full height, as at midday.—First meridian, the meridian passing through Greenwich, from which longitudes are measured east or west; Magnetic meridian (see Magnetic). [Fr.,—L. meridianus, from meridies (orig. medidies), midday—medius, middle, dies, day.]
Meringue, me-rang′, n. a mixture of sugar and white of eggs slightly browned for garnishing other confections: a pudding or tart covered with this.—Meringue glacé, ice-cream with a casing of meringue. [Fr., prob. from Mehringen.]
Merino, me-rē′no, n. a variety of sheep having very fine wool, originally from Spain: a fine French all-wool dress fabric for women, originally of merino wool.—adj. belonging to the merino sheep or their wool. [Sp.,—merino, inspector of sheep-walks—Low L. majorinus, a head-man—L. major, greater.]