-merous

See also: mérous

English

Etymology

From French -mère and its etymon Ancient Greek -μερής (-merḗs, “having (the specified number of) parts”, “sharing”): the combining form of μέρος (méros, “part”)) with the English suffix -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

1. (biology, forming adjectives) Having parts of the specified quality.
2. (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

English terms suffixed with -merous

allomerous

dimerous

heptamerous

hexamerous

isomerous

monomerous

octamerous

oedymerous

pentamerous

pseudomonomerous

tetramerous

trimerous

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