méar

See also: mear

Irish

Alternative forms

• méir (Cois Fharraige)
• meur (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Irish mér (whence also Scottish Gaelic meur), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognates include Latin macer, Ancient Greek μακρός (makrós), and Old English mæger.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /mʲiːa̯ɾˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /mʲeːɾˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /mʲeːɾˠ/, [mʲɛːɾˠ]

Noun

méar f or m (genitive singular méire, nominative plural méara)

1. (anatomy) digit; finger, toe
2. (nautical) belaying pin
3. leg (of crustaceans, mollusks, etc.)

Declension

Declension of méar

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative méar méara Vocative a mhéar a mhéara Genitive méire méar Dative méar méir (archaic, dialectal) méara

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an mhéar na méara Genitive na méire na méar Dative leis an méar leis an méir (archaic, dialectal) don mhéar don mhéir (archaic, dialectal) leis na méara

Synonyms

• (finger): méar threorach
• (toe): méar coise

Derived terms

• cúig méara (“starfish; five of trumps”)
• cúig mhéar Mhuire (“creeping cinquefoil”)
• méar an fháinne (“ring finger”)
• méar bheag (“pinkie”)
• méar cholbha (“forefinger”)
• méar coise (“toe”)
• méar eolais (“finger-post”)
• méar fhada (“middle finger”)
• méar láir (“middle finger”)
• méar mheáin (“middle finger”)
• méar thosaigh (“forefinger”)
• méar threorach (“finger”)
• méara (“fluting”)
• méara ime (“butterfingers”)
• méara maide (“butterfingers”)
• méara mara (“Alcyonium palmatum”)
• méara Muire (“lady's-fingers”)
• méaróg (“fingerstone”)

 

See also

• lúidín m, lúideog f (“little finger”)
• ordóg f (“thumb; claw, pincers; bit, piece, fragment”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
méar	mhéar	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “méar”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 mér”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 35
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 116