merely

Etymology

It is formed from English mere + -ly,^[2][3][4][5] first as mereli.^[6][7] The adjective is from Old French mier (“pure, entire”) and also comes directly from Latin merus (“unmixed, pure, bare”).^[3][8][9] Barnhart traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to glisten, sparkle”),^[8] but Etymonline quotes de Vaan as seeing no compelling reason to derive "pure" from "shining".^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Solely, purely: about 1449, in Pecock's Repressor, in the phrase pureli and mereli of dyuynyte.^[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adverb went through the same reversal as mere, which could mean both "nothing less than" and "nothing more than" from the 15th and 16th centuries.^[8] It first meant without admixture, or exclusively (about 1449–1645), and without the help of others (about 1487–1608).^[2] In 1546 it appears for "absolutely, entirely",^[2] as in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "Things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely."^[5] A short-lived use meant "as a matter of fact" (1596–1601).^[2] The sense that survives, "only, and nothing more", is first recorded about 1580, in Sidney's translation of the Psalms,^[2] and Johnson (1755) gave it alone, as "simply; only".^[10] The Shorter Oxford and Chambers call "entirely" obsolete,^[5][11] though the OED leaves it open and Merriam-Webster quotes it from the 20th-century writer Oliver La Farge.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1449 – purely, exclusively (obsolete by 1645).^[6][2]
• c. 1487 – without the help of others (obsolete by 1608).^[2]
• 1546 – absolutely, entirely.^[2]
• c. 1580 – only, and nothing more.^[2]
• 1596 – as a matter of fact (obsolete by 1601).^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. And nothing more; only, just: She merely shrugged and went on reading.^{[9][12][13][2]}
2. not merely, followed by but: not only: The plan was not merely costly but dangerous.^[2]
3. Entirely, quite, altogether.^[4][2]
4. (obsolete, c. 1449–1645) Purely; without admixture.^{[4][2][5][11]}

Related words

• mere

Usage notes

Old English also had an adverb of this spelling with a separate source, from an older adjective mere, which meant "magnificently, splendidly" and died out by 1600; the corresponding adjective Old English mǣrlic did not survive into Middle English.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
12. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press