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)

(anatomy) digit; finger, toe
(nautical) belaying pin
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
G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, 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

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