Etymograph

English

mer

Mer comes from Ancient Greek μέρος ‘part, component, region’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)méros1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*(h)méros1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέρος1méros‘part, component, region’
  5. English1500–presentpolymer1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010mer1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mer
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, Mikell P. Groover, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing (4th Edition): “A polymer is a compound formed of repeating structural…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, English mer‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mérosWiktionary, English merreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*(h)mérosWiktionary, English merreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέροςWiktionary, English merméros‘part, component, region’
  5. English1500–presentpolymerWiktionary, English mer
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010merWiktionary, English mer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, Mikell P. Groover, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing (4th Edition): “A polymer is a compound formed of repeating structural…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’

memory, memorable, martyr, mourn, memoir, merit, memorandum, memorabilia, mora, memoria, 15 more

Today it means

noun A repeat unit: a structural unit which through repetition forms a polymer.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mer”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / mer

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