ment; see [meint].
merce, to ‘amerce’, to fine. Wilkins, Miseries of inforst Marriage, i (Sir Wil. Scarborow; l. 12 from end).
merchant, a fellow, a chap. 1 Hen. VI, ii. 3. 57; Romeo, ii. 4. 153; Latimer, Serm., 115 (Nares). Phr. to play the merchant with, to get the better of, to cheat, Rowley, Woman never Vext, iv. 1. 51.
mercify, to pity. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 7. 32.
mercurial finger, the little finger. B. Jonson, Alchem. i. 1 (Subtle). In chiromancy the little finger was assigned to Mercury.
merds, fæces, excrement. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). L. merda.
mere, mear, a boundary, limit; spelt meare. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 9. 46; Drayton, Pol. xix. 405. Hence, meer-stone, Bacon, Essay 56, § 1. In gen. prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Mear). ME. mere (Prompt, EETS. 286). OE. ge)mǣre, boundary.
mere, mear, to mark out by means of ‘meres’; ‘The Latine name Which mear’d her rule with Africa’, Spenser, Ruines Rome, xxii; to mear on, to abut upon, border upon, Stanyhurst, tr. Aeneid, iii. 520.
mere, absolute, complete, unqualified, Merry Wives, iv. 5. 64; wholly, completely, All’s Well, iii. 5. 58; Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 4. 9; merely, absolutely, entirely, Temp. i. 1. 21; Hamlet, i. 2. 137.
meridian, a period of repose at noon; ‘Ye, a meridian to lul him by daylight’, Mirror for Mag., Cobham, st. 30. Monastic L. meridiana, ‘somnus meridianus’ (Ducange). Cp. Ital. meriggiána, ‘midday; a pleasant shady place to feed, to rest, or sleep, and recreate in at noon, or in the heat of the day’ (Florio).