mery

English

Adjective

mery

1. Obsolete form of merry.
   • 1526, John Rastell, edited by Hermann Oesterley, A Hundred Mery Talys: From the Only Perfect Copy Known (published 1866), page 57:

     A Yonge gentylman of the age of .xx. yere some whate dysposyd to myrth and game on a tyme talkyd with a gentylwoman which was ryght wyfe and also mery.

   • 1533, R. Saltwood, A comparyson bytwene. iiij. byrdes, the larke, the nyghtyngale, ye thrusshe [and] the cuko, for theyr syngynge who shuld be chauntoure of the quere:

     As plesaunt to the ere as the blacke sanctus Of a sad sorte vpon a mery pyn.

   • 1581, William Sandys, Christmastide: Its History, Festivities, and Carols (published 2020):

     At Christmas be mery, and thanke god of alll And feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small.

   • 1596, Hugh Latimer, Frutefull Sermons, page 52:

     There was a mery Monke in Cambridge in the college that I was in, and it chanced a great company of us to be together, intending to make good cheare, to be mery (as scholers wd by mery when they are disposed:)

Anagrams

• Emry, Myer, Myre

Middle English

Alternative forms

• merie, mirie, myrie, murie, murȝe, merye, myrry, myry, miry, mirye, myriȝe, myrye, murye, miri, meri, mury

Etymology

Inherited from Old English meriġe, miriġe, myriġe, myreġe, myrġe, from Proto-West Germanic *murgī, from Proto-Germanic *murguz, from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus. Doublet of bref.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛriː(ə)/, /ˈmiriː(ə)/, /ˈmuriː(ə)/

Adjective

mery (comparative meriere, superlative meriest)

1. Happy, joyful, pleased; in a good mood or state of mind:
   1. Tending to be happy; jovial, merry, good-natured, blissful.
   2. Creating or pertaining to happiness; nice, good, delightful.
   3. (of a time or place) Happy, nice, good, bounteous.
   4. (of speech or sound) Useful, entertaining, appealing.
2. Attractive, good-looking; pleasing to one's eyes.
3. Having a good, nice or pleasing scent or smell.
4. Powerful, mighty, tough; having much strength.
5. (rare) Full of humor (due to drink).
6. (rare) Active, fast, vigorous.
7. (rare) Intelligent, smart, learned.

Related terms

• merily
• merines
• mirien
• myrthe

Descendants

• English: merry
• Scots: mirry, mery

References

• “mirī(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-09.

Adverb

mery

1. Merrily, gladly, jovially; in a happy or merry way.
2. Pleasingly, delightfully; in a way causing happiness.
3. (rare) Attractively, nicely.
4. (rare) Without strength or harshness.

References

• “mirī(e, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-09.