Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
guère. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
guère, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
guère in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
guère you have here. The definition of the word
guère will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
guère, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French guere(s), from Old French gaire(s), guaire(s) (“much”), from Frankish *waigaro (“much”). Compare Middle High German unweiger (“not much”), which corresponds closely to the French construct. Romance cognates are Occitan and Catalan gaire, Italian guari.
Pronunciation
Adverb
guère
- (with ne) hardly, barely
Je ne comprends guère le français.- I hardly understand French.
Je ne vais guère mieux.- I’m not much better.
Pour me réchauffer, il n’y a guère qu’un pot de thé.- To warm myself up, nothing beats a pot of tea.
- (literally, “...there's hardly anything but a pot of tea.”)
2008, Jean-Marc Moriceau, La bête du Gévaudan:Habitués à ne guère sortir d’un cercle de quelques paroisses environnantes, surtout en cette saison d’hiver, quelle raison auraient-ils eu à distinguer entre plusieurs animaux agresseurs ?- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
See also
Further reading
Picard
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French guerre, from Early Medieval Latin werra, from Frankish. Compare French guerre.
Noun
guère f (plural guères)
- (Nord and Pas-de-Calais) war