# meagre
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmiːɡɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːɡə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: mea‧gre

### Etymology 1

From Middle French maigre.

#### Noun

meagre (plural meagres)
* Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family Sciaenidae.
** 1986, A. Wysokiński, The Living Marine Resources of the Southeast Atlantic, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 178, page 48,
    Among more valuable species some of them are worth mentioning, especially littoral forms as: meagres and other croakers (Sciaenidae), grunters (Pomadasyidae), threadfins (Polynemidae), groupers (Serranidae), snappers (Lutjanidae) […] .
** 2008, Arturo Morales-Muñes, Eufrasia Roselló-Izquierdo, “11: Twenty Thousand Years of Fishing in the Strait”, in Torben C. Rick, Jon M. Erlandson, editors, Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems: A Global Perspective, page 261:It is striking that these represent meagres (Argyrosomus regius), a species never mentioned in classical texts.
** 2011, John S. Lucas, Paul C. Southgate, Aquaculture: Farming Aquatic Animals and Plants, unnumbered page:Meagres (Argyrosomus regius, 230 cm, 103 kg) have been raised mainly in Spain, France and Italy.

##### Synonyms

* (Argyrosomus regius): salmon-basse, shade-fish, stone basse

##### Hypernyms

* (fish of family Sciaenidae): croaker, drum, drumfish, hardhead, sciaenid

##### Derived terms

* brown meagre (Sciaena umbra)

##### Translations
#### Further reading

* Argyrosomus regius on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Argyrosomus regius on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
* Argyrosomus regius on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

### Etymology 2

From Middle English megre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, macrum, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Cognate with Old English mæġer (“meagre, lean”), Dutch mager (“lean”), German mager (“lean”), Icelandic magur (“lean”).

#### Alternative forms

* meager (US)

#### Adjective

meagre (comparative meagrer, superlative meagrest) (British spelling) (Canadian spelling, common)
* Having little flesh; lean; thin.
** c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:[…] meagre were his looks; / Sharp misery had worn him to the bones:
* Deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent
    Synonyms: paltry, scanty, inadequate
    Nothing will grow in this meagre soil.
    He was given a meagre piece of cake that he swallowed in one bite.
** 1871, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History, volume 1, page 144:His education had been but meagre.
** 1961 February, D. Bertram, “The lines to Wetherby and their traffic”, in Trains Illustrated, page 103:It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the present rail passenger service is meagre and between Wetherby and Church Fenton almost non-existent.
** 1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17:Until the recent rash of North London line maps appeared on station billboards in the London area of BR, the service undoubtedly suffered from meagre and ineffectual publicity.
* (set theory) Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is in a precise sense small or negligible.
* (mineralogy) Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).

##### Derived terms

* meagrely
* meagreness

##### Descendants

* Jamaican Creole: mawga

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Verb

meagre (third-person singular simple present meagres, present participle meagring, simple past and past participle meagred)
* (transitive) To make lean.
** 1862, Robert Thomas Wilson, edited by Herbert Randolph, Life of General Sir Robert Wilson, page 275:I am meagred to a skeleton; my nose is broiled to flaming heat, and I am suffering the greatest inconvenience from the loss of my baggage which I fear the enemy have taken with my servant at Konigsberg.

### Anagrams

* Graeme, meager