meer

meer¹ lake

Pronunciation

• /meːr/, [mɪːr]^[1]

Forms

meer n (plural meren, diminutive meertje n)^[1]

Etymology

The noun meaning “lake” is inherited from Middle Dutch mere, inherited from Old Dutch meri, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *mari, inherited from Proto-Germanic *mari.^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon meri (Middle Low German ⟨mēr⟩), Old High German meri (modern German Meer), Old Frisian mere (modern West Frisian mar), Old English mere (modern English mere), Old Norse marr and the first part of Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (marisaiws, “lake”), all meaning “lake” or “sea”.^[2][3][4]

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mor-i- (“sea”), which is also the source of Latin mare (“sea”), Old Irish muir (“sea”), Welsh môr (“sea”), Lithuanian marios (“lagoon”) and Old Church Slavonic морѥ (morje, “sea”) (modern Russian море (móre)).^[2][3][1] The word seems also to occur in old river names such as Morava, Marica and Marisos, and because ⟨*mori-⟩ and ⟨*mari-⟩ stand side by side it may be a pre-Indo-European word.^[2][4][5] It is related to moeras.^[4][3][5]

In the other Indo-European languages the word means “sea”, but in early Germanic it also meant an inland sea or large freshwater lake; in Dutch and in poetic English this sense has replaced the original one.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the place name Aelmere, literally “eel lake”, the inland sea on the site of the present IJsselmeer, in a record of 755–768 surviving in a 9th-century copy.^[2][6][7] Further early names are Sunnonmeri (776), now Zonnemaire, and Pulmeri (10th century), now Purmerend.^[7] As a common noun it appears in the Egmond Willeram of about 1100, where Christ ouer mere mit drugon fuozen gieng, “walked over the sea with dry feet”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch mere meant “lake” (1240) and also “sea”, as in dat mere van surie, “the Sea of Syria” (1287).^[2] The sense “sea” survived into the 16th century, in a crusade over 't meyr (1560), and is now only poetic.^[2][9] In the north the word has long named large lakes, many of them later drained.^[9] From the 17th century it was also the name of the polder made by draining a lake, as with the Diemer-Meer (1615, 1640).^[9] Old usage also included pools and marshy water, which explains plant and animal names such as meerkoet “coot”.^[9]

In the Southern Netherlands the word could be feminine, as in the Antwerp street name de Meir, once the site of a stretch of water; its spelling ei shows the local pronunciation of the vowel.^[9] Afrikaans has meer.^[1]

Timeline

• 755–768 – The place name Aelmere “eel lake” is recorded.^[2][6]
• c. 1100 – Mere “sea” appears in the Egmond Willeram.^[8]
• 1240 – Middle Dutch meere “lake” is recorded.^[2]
• 1287 – Dat mere van surie “the Sea of Syria” is recorded.^[2]
• 1560 – Over 't meyr “over the sea” is recorded.^[2]
• 1615 – The Diemer-Meer is named.^[9]
• 1640 – Meer is used of a drained lake, a polder.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lake, a large body of water surrounded by land: Ze zeilden de hele middag op het meer.^[10][1][11]
2. (obsolete, poetic) The sea.^[9][1]
3. (historical) A polder made by draining a lake.^[9]

Word family

• meertje
• meerkoet
• meermin
• meerman
• meerval
• meerkat
• meerschuim
• meerpolder
• binnenmeer
• stuwmeer
• kratermeer

meer² more

Pronunciation

• /meːr/, [mɪːr]^[1]

Forms

meer^[1]

Etymology

The word meaning “more” is inherited from Middle Dutch meer, earlier mee, inherited from Old Dutch mēr, inherited from Proto-Germanic *maiz.^[2][1][4] ⟨Mee⟩ is the regular form, and the ⟨r⟩ of ⟨meer⟩ came in under the influence of the adjective mere (“greater”).^{[2][4][12][5]} The same adverb is Old Saxon mēr, Old High German mēr (modern German mehr), Old Frisian mār, Old English mā, Old Norse meir and Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃 (mais).^[2][13][4]

Beside it stood the adjective Proto-Germanic *maiza- (“greater”), which gave Old Dutch ⟨mēro⟩, Old Saxon mēro, Old High German mēro, Old English māra (modern English more), Old Norse meiri and Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌶𐌰 (maiza); it served as the comparative of ⟨*mekila-⟩ “great”.^[2][3] Adding a new comparative suffix to it gave Old Dutch ⟨mērro⟩, Middle Dutch ⟨meerre⟩, the source of meerder, and Old High German ⟨mēriro⟩ (modern German ⟨mehrere⟩).^[2][4][12] The superlative is meest.^[4][12]

Certain cognates outside Germanic are lacking.^[2] The Germanic form is traced to a Proto-Indo-European comparative ⟨*meh₂-is⟩ or ⟨*moh₁-is⟩.^[2][3] It has traditionally been compared with Oscan mais (“more”), but that word, like Latin magis (“more”), may belong to the root of mega-;^[2][3] the Germanic word probably belongs to a root ⟨*meh₁-⟩ “great”, seen also in Welsh mwy (“more”) and Old Irish mór (“great”).^[2][3][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch mēr is recorded in the Willeram of about 1100, as an adverb in meer ande meer ze stinchene, “to smell sweeter and sweeter”, and as a numeral with a genitive.^[2][6] The adjective mēro “greater” is older, used as a noun, merra “greater ones”, in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.^[2] Middle Dutch mee appears in Ghent in 1236, in si het me of min “whether more or less often”.^[2][14]

Semantic evolution

In Old Dutch niemer mer meant “never again” (1151–1200).^[2] Middle Dutch used mee and meer for “more, to a greater degree”, “more often”, “rather” and “further”, and formed no mee no min “neither more nor less, exactly”.^[14][9] Phrases of steady increase such as lanc so meer gave way to hoe langer hoe meer, and des te meer contains an old instrumental of the pronoun.^[9][14]

As the adjective mere “greater” fell out of use, meer came to be understood only as adverb and numeral, and meerder took over the adjective.^[9] The adjectival comparative now survives in tot meerdere eer en glorie, in iemands meerderen “one's superiors” and in meerderheid, while meerdere in the sense “several” (1859) imitates German mehrere.^[2] Negerhollands had meer and Berbice Dutch mere.^[15]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – The adjective merra “greater ones” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[2]
• c. 1100 – Mēr “more” appears in the Willeram.^[2][6]
• 1151–1200 – Niemer mer “never again” is recorded.^[2]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch mee is recorded in Ghent.^[2][14]
• 1237 – The form meer is recorded.^[5]
• 1859 – Meerdere “several” is used after German mehrere.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. more, to a greater degree: Hij lijkt meer op zijn moeder.^[10][1]
2. More truly, rather: Het was meer een wandeling dan een tocht.^[10]
3. Besides, further, as in en zo meer “and so on”.^[10]
4. (with a negation) anymore, any longer: Ze woont hier niet meer.^[10][1]
5. More often, as in meer dan eens “more than once, repeatedly”.^[10]

Numeral

1. A greater amount or number: Er kwamen meer mensen dan verwacht.^[2][16]

Word family

• meerder
• meerderheid
• meermaals
• meermalen
• meerwaarde
• immer
• nimmer
• nimmermeer