Mere, a. [Superl. Merest. The comparative is rarely or never used.]
Etymology: [L. merus.]
1. Unmixed; pure; entire; absolute; unqualified. Then entered they the mere, main sea. Chapman. The sorrows of this world would be mere and unmixed. Jer. Taylor.
2. Only this, and nothing else; such, and no more; simple; bare; as, a mere boy; a mere form. From mere success nothing can be concluded in favor of any nation. Atterbury.
4 other Webster entries under this spelling
Mere, n.
Etym: [OE. mere, AS. mere mere, sea; akin to D. meer lake, OS. meri sea, OHG. meri, mari, G. meer, Icel. marr, Goth. marei, Russ. more, W. mor, Ir. & Gael. muir, L. mare, and perh. to L. mori to die, and meaning originally, that which is dead, a waste. Cf. Mortal, Marine, Marsh, Mermaid, Moor.]
A pool or lake. Drayton. Tennyson.
Mere, n.
Etym: [AS. gemære. sq. root269.]
A boundary. Bacon.
Mere, v. t.
To divide, limit, or bound. [Obs.] Which meared her rule with Africa. Spenser.
Mere, n.
A mare. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for mere; he lists it under pure.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.