Mere in different languages

Mere in Different Languages

Discover 'Mere' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'mere' is a small but mighty one, carrying significant meaning and cultural importance in the English language. It often denotes something slight or small, yet it can also signify a simple or basic version of something. But did you know that 'mere' has roots in Old English and Old French, and was once used to describe a body of water or a boundary?

Moreover, the significance of 'mere' extends beyond English, as it has been adopted and adapted in various languages and cultures around the world. For instance, in Spanish, 'mero' can refer to a type of fish or a complete or total thing. In Hindi, 'mere' is a possessive pronoun meaning 'my' or 'mine'. And in Maori, 'mere' is a traditional weapon made of jade or bone, used for both ceremonial and practical purposes.

Given its rich history and cultural significance, it's no wonder that someone might want to know the translation of 'mere' in different languages. Whether you're a language enthusiast, a cultural explorer, or simply curious, read on to discover the many meanings and uses of 'mere' in a global context.

Mere

Mere in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansmeer
"Meer" can also mean "lake" or "the abundance of something"
Amharicተጨማሪ
The word "ተጨማሪ" ("mere") in Amharic can also mean "additional" or "extra."
Hausakara
Kara shares a root with k`ara, which means 'to scrape' or 'to graze'.
Igboọzọ
Ọzọ, meaning "mere" in Igbo, also signifies "essence," highlighting the dual nature of "mere" as both superficial and profound.
Malagasybebe kokoa
"Bebe kokoa" (mere) likely derives from Old Austronesian *baqbaqu (*knife).
Nyanja (Chichewa)zambiri
Shonazvimwe
The word "zvimwe" can also mean "others" or "the rest" in Shona.
Somalidheeraad ah
The Somali word "dheeraad ah" can also mean "too much" in some contexts.
Sesothohape
The word “Hape” is derived from the verb 'ho hapha' meaning 'to cover' which in return means 'to hide'.
Swahilizaidi
The word "zaidi" can also mean "too much" or "extra."
Xhosakaninzi
The word "Kaninzi" has a derogatory connotation in modern Xhosa, unlike its cognate "Umama" meaning "mother."
Yorubasiwaju sii
"Siwaju si" is usually translated as "mere" in English, but it also means "just" or "only" or "nothing but" or "simply"
Zuluokuningi
The word "Okuningi" in Zulu is also used to refer to a small pot or container, a small amount of something, or a small number of people.
Bambaracaman
Ewegawu
Kinyarwandabyinshi
Lingalalisusu
Lugandaokwongera
Sepedigo feta
Twi (Akan)dodoɔ

Mere in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicأكثر
The word "أكثر" can also mean "more" or "most" in Arabic, depending on the context.
Hebrewיותר
The Hebrew word "יותר" derives from an ancient Semitic root and has meanings beyond "mere," ranging from "excess" to "beyond" to "additional."
Pashtoنور
The word "نور" (mere) in Pashto is derived from the Persian word "نور" (light) and also means "sunlight" or "moonlight".
Arabicأكثر
The word "أكثر" can also mean "more" or "most" in Arabic, depending on the context.

Mere in Western European Languages

Albanianmë shumë
Albanian "më shumë" means "more," but can also be used in a figurative sense to intensify a word or action.
Basquegehiago
While the word "gehiago" is usually rendered simply as "more" in English, its literal meaning is "excess" or "abundance."
Catalanmés
In Catalan, "més" can be an adjective meaning "more," an adverb meaning "very," or a personal pronoun meaning "myself."
Croatianviše
The word 'više' has additional meanings in Croatian, including 'greater', 'taller', and 'older'.
Danishmere
The Old Danish "mer" referred to the sea or a lake, and later came to mean a small or enclosed body of water as well as a swamp or bog.
Dutchmeer
The Dutch word "meer" derives from the Old Dutch "meri" but can also refer to an expanse of open land.
Englishmere
"Mere" derives from the Middle English word "mere," meaning "lake," and is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*mer-" meaning "water."
Frenchplus
The French word "plus" can also mean "more" or "in addition to".
Frisianmear
The original Frisian word 'mear' meant 'boundary' or 'border', with reference to a specific dividing line; it derives from various Old Germanic words.
Galicianmáis
In the Portuguese language "Mais" means "more" indicating that "máis" (Galician) and "Mais" (Portuguese) share a common etymology.
Germanmehr
Mehr, pronounced with an "e" rather than an "a," is the comparative form of the German word "viel," meaning "much."
Icelandicmeira
The Icelandic word "meira" (mere) is derived from the Old Norse word "merr", meaning lake or sea.
Irishníos mó
Italiandi più
The Italian word "Di Più" can also mean "more" or "in addition".
Luxembourgishméi
Luxembourgish "méi" is a cognate of the French word "mère" (meaning "mother"), and is also used to mean "more" in the sense of "additional" or "extra".
Malteseaktar
The word "aktar" can also mean "more" or "a lot" in Maltese.
Norwegianmer
The Norwegian word "mer" can also refer to a large lake, while in English "mere" usually means "only".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)mais
In Portuguese, "mais" can also mean "but" and is derived from the Latin "magis" (more).
Scots Gaelictuilleadh
The name is cognate with the word "tilth" in English.
Spanishmás
The Spanish word "más" is a cognate of the Latin word "magis" and the English word "more."
Swedishmer
The Swedish word "mer" can also translate to "the sea" or "the ocean" in English.
Welshmwy
The Welsh word 'mwy' (mere) is derived from 'mawr' and shares its root with the Latin words 'maior' (greater) and 'maximus' (greatest).

Mere in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianбольш
The word "больш" in Belarusian has an ancient meaning "sea", known in Polish and Czech as "morze" and "moře" respectively.
Bosnianviše
Više can also mean 'more' or 'additional'.
Bulgarianповече ▼
The Bulgarian word "Повече ▼" (mere) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *malъ, meaning "small" or "little."
Czechvíce
Czech word "více" means "more" (when used as an adverb), "vice" (when used with a bad habit), and "vine" (when used in viticulture).
Estonianrohkem
The term "rohkem" can refer to a larger amount of some object, but it can also mean "too much" or "more than necessary".
Finnishlisää
"Lisää" is a cognate with the Hungarian word "liz" and the Estonian word "liis", meaning "silt".
Hungariantöbb
- "Több" (meaning "mere") can also refer to an amount of something, like "többet" (meaning "more", in a quantitative sense).
Latvianvairāk
Latvian word "vairāk" can also mean "more" or "over".
Lithuaniandaugiau
The word "daugiau" in Lithuanian can also refer to "more" or "greater".
Macedonianповеќе
"Повеќе" means "more" in English, but also has the meaning of "simply" or "merely".
Polishwięcej
In addition to its primary meaning of "more," "więcej" can also mean "but" or "however"
Romanianmai mult
The Romanian word "Mai Mult" (meaning "more") is also used in colloquial speech to mean "great" or "excellent".
Russianбольше
The word 'Больше' has many other meanings, including 'more', 'most', and 'greater'.
Serbianвише
"Више" can also mean "more" or "greater"
Slovakviac
"Viac" is also used in Slovak as a synonym for "more" in the sense of "greater quantity or number".
Slovenianveč
The noun 'več' (feminine) is a Slavicization of the Germanic 'mark' (border), and so means 'boundary', 'frontier', 'limit', as in 'obmorski več', 'coastal region', or 'mestni več', 'city outskirts'.
Ukrainianбільше
The Ukrainian word "більше" (bil'she) shares its origin with the English word "more".

Mere in South Asian Languages

Bengaliআরও
"আরও" can also mean "more" or "again" in Bengali.
Gujaratiવધુ
The Gujarati word "mere" (વધુ) also means "addition, increase, excess, surplus," and comes from Sanskrit.
Hindiअधिक
The word 'अधिक' ('adhik') in Hindi can also mean 'more', 'extra', or 'excessive'.
Kannadaಹೆಚ್ಚು
The word is also used to suggest 'much', 'plenty' or 'greatly'.
Malayalamകൂടുതൽ
Malayalam word 'കൂടുതൽ' (koo-du-thal) is derived from 'കൂട്' (koo-d) meaning 'nest' and 'തൽ' (thal) meaning 'that', thus metaphorically referring to a bird's nest as a place of excess.
Marathiअधिक
The word "अधिक" also means "more" or "additional" in Marathi.
Nepaliअधिक
"अधिक" is a Nepali word that can mean either "more" or "excessive".
Punjabiਹੋਰ
The word "ਹੋਰ" ("mere") in Punjabi can also mean "other" or "more".
Sinhala (Sinhalese)තවත්
The Sinhala word "තවත්" can also mean "again" or "moreover".
Tamilமேலும்
The verb மேலும் is sometimes used in an emphatic sense as "very much", akin to the use of "too" in English.
Teluguమరింత
The word "మరింత" (mere) in Telugu also means "more" or "additional".
Urduمزید

Mere in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)更多
更多 means 'more' in English, but it also has the connotation of 'only' or 'no more than'.
Chinese (Traditional)更多
「更多」在文言文中是「只有」的意思，在現代漢語中則是用來表示程度很低或數量很少。
Japaneseもっと
"もっと" can also mean "more" or "more so".
Korean더
The word "더" can also mean "more" or "further".
Mongolianдэлгэрэнгүй
Дэлгэрэнгүй means "mere" or "only" but can also be used to describe something simple and straightforward (like math problems).
Myanmar (Burmese)နောက်ထပ်

Mere in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianlebih
The word "lebih" in Indonesian can also mean "more" or "better".
Javaneseliyane
In Javanese, the word "liyane" can also mean "other(s)" or "the others".
Khmerច្រើនទៀត
Originally a Sanskrit word, this term is also used to indicate "only" or "just".
Laoຫຼາຍ
The term ຫຼາຍ has alternate meanings such as "several," "more than," and "much.
Malaylebih banyak lagi
The Malay word "lebih banyak lagi" also means "all the more so", "still more", or "much more".
Thaiมากกว่า
The Thai word "มากกว่า" also has a sense of "exceeding" or "surpassing" in terms of quantity, number or degree.
Vietnamesehơn
The word "hơn" is related to the Chinese word "偪" (cài), which means "to press", "to coerce", or "to bully."
Filipino (Tagalog)higit pa

Mere in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanidaha çox
"Daha çox" also means "more" in Azerbaijani.
Kazakhкөбірек
The word "Көбірек" in Kazakh language also means "more" or "extra".
Kyrgyzкөбүрөөк
"Көбүрөөк" (mere) translates to "more" in English, but it has an additional meaning of "sheer," referring to something that is absolute or complete.
Tajikбештар
The Tajik word "Бештар" is also used to mean "the other side of a mountain or hill"
Turkmenhas köp
Uzbekko'proq
The Uzbek word "ko'proq" is thought to have been derived from the Persian word "kam" (كم) meaning "less". It can also be used to refer to something that is "deficient" or "insufficient".
Uyghurتېخىمۇ كۆپ

Mere in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianhou aku
The term 'hou aku' can also refer to a type of Hawaiian weapon made of wood or bone.
Maoriatu
The word 'atu' in Maori can also refer to a weapon made of wood or bone.
Samoansili atu
Its other meaning as 'sharp stone' reveals its original obsidian source; obsidian can be very sharp but becomes very dull if used incorrectly.
Tagalog (Filipino)higit pa
The word "higit pa" in Tagalog can also mean “plus” or “more” in the sense of “additional”.

Mere in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajuk'ampi
Guaraniheta

Mere in International Languages

Esperantopli
'pli' is related to the root 'plen' (full) and has the alternate meaning 'additional' or 'extra'
Latinmagis
The Latin word "magis" also means "rather" or "more than" in some contexts.

Mere in Others Languages

Greekπερισσότερο
The Greek word "περισσότερο" is derived from the Indo-European root "*mehr-", meaning "greater" or "more", and is related to the English word "more".
Hmongntxiv
Ntxiv can also mean "ordinary" or "commonplace" in Hmong.
Kurdishzêde
The Kurdish word "zêde" originates from the Persian word "mâdar" and has the alternate meaning of "mother" in some contexts.
Turkishdaha
Originating from the Arabic word "dhayyuqa", "daha" also signifies "very" or "really" in Turkic languages.
Xhosakaninzi
The word "Kaninzi" has a derogatory connotation in modern Xhosa, unlike its cognate "Umama" meaning "mother."
Yiddishמער
While "mere" means "lake" or "pond" in general usage, in Yiddish, it specifically denotes a swamp or wetland (see "meer").
Zuluokuningi
The word "Okuningi" in Zulu is also used to refer to a small pot or container, a small amount of something, or a small number of people.
Assameseঅধিক
Aymarajuk'ampi
Bhojpuriअधिका
Dhivehiއިތުރަށް
Dogriहोर
Filipino (Tagalog)higit pa
Guaraniheta
Ilocanoad-adu pay
Kriomɔ
Kurdish (Sorani)زیاتر
Maithiliअधिक
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯑꯍꯦꯟꯕ
Mizobelh
Oromocaalaa
Odia (Oriya)ଅଧିକ
Quechuaaswan
Sanskritअधिकः
Tatarкүбрәк
Tigrinyaቡዙሕ
Tsongaswo tala

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