-merous

See also: mérous

English

Etymology

From the suffixation of the French -mère and its etymon the Ancient Greek -μερής (-merḗs) (“having (the specified number of) parts”, “sharing”: the combining form of μέρος (méros, “part”)) with the English -ous; compare the English -mer and -mere, as well as the French -mère and the German -mer.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: -mərəs, IPA^(key): /-məɹəs/
(US) enPR: -mərəs, IPA^(key): /-məɹəs/

Suffix

-merous

(biology, forming adjectives) Having parts of the specified quality.
(chiefly botany and zoology, forming adjectives) Comprising the specified number of parts.

Usage notes

In biological descriptions, it is common to use numbers instead the Greek prefixes.

Derived terms

► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_words_suffixed_with_-merous'>English words suffixed with -merous</a>

References

“-merous” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (second edition, 1989)
“-merous, comb. form” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (draft revision, June 2010)

Anagrams

Mouser, moeurs, mouser, oremus

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