meagre

EnglishEdit

 
A depiction of Argyrosomus regius
 
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PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmiːɡɚ/
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  • Hyphenation: mea‧gre

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle French maigre.

NounEdit

meagre (plural meagres)

  1. Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family Sciaenidae.
    • 1986, A. Wysokiński, The Living Marine Resources of the Southeast Atlantic, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 178, page 48,
      Among more valuable species some of them are worth mentioning, especially littoral forms as: meagres and other croakers (Sciaenidae), grunters (Pomadasyidae), threadfins (Polynemidae), groupers (Serranidae), snappers (Lutjanidae) […] .
    • 2008, Arturo Morales-Muñes, Eufrasia Roselló-Izquierdo, 11: Twenty Thousand Years of Fishing in the Strait, Torben C. Rick, Jon M. Erlandson (editors), Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems: A Global Perspective, page 261,
      It is striking that these represent meagres (Argyrosomus regius), a species never mentioned in classical texts.
    • 2011, John S. Lucas, Paul C. Southgate, Aquaculture: Farming Aquatic Animals and Plants, unnumbered page,
      Meagres (Argyrosomus regius, 230 cm, 103 kg) have been raised mainly in Spain, France and Italy.
SynonymsEdit
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Further readingEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle English megre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, macrum, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognate with Old English mæġer (“meagre, lean”), Dutch mager (“lean”), German mager (“lean”), Icelandic magur (“lean”).

Alternative formsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

meagre (comparative meagrer, superlative meagrest) (British spelling)

  1. Having little flesh; lean; thin.
    • 1597, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 1, 1843, William Shakespeare, Samuel Weller Singer (notes), Charles Symmons (life), The Dramatic Works and Poems, Volume 2, page 462,
      […] meagre were his looks; / Sharp misery had worn him to the bones:
  2. Deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent
    Nothing will grow in this meagre soil.
    He was given a meagre piece of cake that he swallowed in one bite.
    Synonyms: paltry, scanty, inadequate
    • 1871, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History, Volume 1, page 144,
      His education had been but meagre.
    • 1961 February, D. Bertram, “The lines to Wetherby and their traffic”, in Trains Illustrated, page 103:
      It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the present rail passenger service is meagre and between Wetherby and Church Fenton almost non-existent.
  3. (set theory) Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is in a precise sense small or negligible.
  4. (mineralogy) Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).
Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • Jamaican Creole: mawga
TranslationsEdit
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Translations to be checked

VerbEdit

meagre (third-person singular simple present meagres, present participle meagring, simple past and past participle meagred)

  1. (transitive) To make lean.
    • 1862, Robert Thomas Wilson, Herbert Randolph (editor), Life of General Sir Robert Wilson, page 275,
      I am meagred to a skeleton; my nose is broiled to flaming heat, and I am suffering the greatest inconvenience from the loss of my baggage which I fear the enemy have taken with my servant at Konigsberg.

AnagramsEdit

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