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Were vs Mere - What's the difference?

were | mere |

As nouns the difference between were and mere

is that were is (archaic) man (human male), as in while mere is fear, awe.

As a verb were

is .

were

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) .

Verb

(head)
  • .
    • John, you were the only person to see him.
  • .
    • We were about to leave.
  • .
    • Mary and John, you were right.
  • .
    • They were a fine group.
    They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
  • .
    • I wish that it were Sunday.
    I wish that I were with you.
  • :* with "if" omitted, put first in an "if" clause:
  • :*: Were''' it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all.'' (= '''''If''' it '''were simply... )
  • :*: Were''' father a king, we would have war.'' (= '''''If''' father '''were a king,... )
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.}}
  • (Northern England) was.
    • Synonyms
    * (second-person singular past indicative, archaic'') wast (''used with "thou" ) * (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic'') wert (''used with "thou" )

    See also

    * am * are * is * art * be * being * been * beest * was * wast * wert

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) wer, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (wikipedia were) (en noun)
  • (archaic) man (human male), as in .
  • (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
  • * Bosworth
    • Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were .
  • (fandom) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
    • Related terms
    * were- * weregild * werewolf * world

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 100 English basic words English auxiliary verb forms English terms with homophones English irregular simple past forms English verb simple past forms English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax ----

    mere

    English

    (wikipedia mere)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) mere, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) the sea
  • (dialectal, or, literary) a pool; a small lake or pond; marsh
    • (Drayton)
    (Tennyson)
  • * 1955 , William Golding, The Inheritors , Faber & Faber 2005, p. 194:
    • Lok got to his feet and wandered along by the marshes towards the mere where Fa had disappeared.
    Derived terms
    * mereswine * mermaid * merman * merfolk

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l), (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • boundary, limit; a boundary-marker; boundary-line
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.ix:
    • The Troian Brute'' did first that Citie found, / And ''Hygate'' made the meare thereof by West, / And ''Ouert gate by North: that is the bound / Toward the land; two riuers bound the rest.

    Verb

    (mer)
  • (obsolete) To limit; bound; divide or cause division in.
  • (obsolete) To set divisions and bounds.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) famous.

    • Etymology 4

    From (etyl) meer, from (etyl) mier, from (etyl) merus. Perhaps influenced by (etyl) , or conflated with Etymology 3.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (label) Pure, unalloyed .
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.8:
    • So oft as I this history record, / My heart doth melt with meere compassion.
  • * , I.56:
    • Meere .
  • (label) Nothing less than; complete, downright .
  • * , II.3.7:
    • If every man might have what he wouldwe should have another chaos in an instant, a meer confusion.
  • Just, only; no more than , pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected.
  • *
    • Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)
    • , chapter=2, title= Internal Combustion , passage=More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
    • , author=, volume=100, issue=2, page=106 , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Pixels or Perish , passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}
    Derived terms
    * merely

    Etymology 5

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a Maori war-club

    • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----