Where does “mere” come from?
mere (Romanian) comes from Romanian măr, from Vulgar Latin melus, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.
mere (Romanian): plural of măr
Ancestry of “mere”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Romanian | măr | apple; apple tree |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | melus | apple tree |
| 3 | Latin | malus | unpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μηλέα | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μῆλον | apple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)meh₁l- | small animal”; small animal |