LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
verbthird conjugation

mergō

mergō (present infinitive mergere, perfect active mersī, supine mersum)
Classical[ˈmɛr.ɡoː]Ecclesiastical[ˈmɛr.ɡo]
mersus perf. pass. ptcp.Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. to dip (in), immerse; plunge into water; drown
    Avēs sē in mare mergunt piscīsque capiunt.Birds plunge themselves into the seawater and seize fish.
    cum cavea liberati pulli non pascerentur, mergi eos in aquam iussit, ut biberentwhen the chickens freed from their cages refused to eat, he ordered them to be submerged in water, so that they might drink45 BCE, Cicero, De natura deorum 2.7
  2. to overwhelm
  3. to cover, bury
  4. to sink down or in, plunge, thrust, drive or fix in
  5. to engulf, flood, swallow up, overwhelm
  6. figurativelyto hide, conceal, suppress

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

sub aquam premō; nāvis mersa sub aquā perit.
mergō -ere — in Mille Verba, Mare et Nāvēs
sub aquam mittō
mergō -ere — in Epistulae, ch. 6
sub aquā premō
mergō -ere — in Aeneis, ch. 2

Conjugation conjugation 3

active indicative
formpresentimperfectfutureperfectpluperfectfut. perfect
1st sg.mergōmergēbammergammersīmerserammerserō
2nd sg.mergismergēbāsmergēsmersistīmerserāsmerseris
3rd sg.mergitmergēbatmergetmersitmerseratmerserit
1st pl.mergimusmergēbāmusmergēmusmersimusmerserāmusmerserimus
2nd pl.mergitismergēbātismergētismersistismerserātismerseritis
3rd pl.merguntmergēbantmergentmersērunt
mersēre		merserantmerserint
active subjunctive
active subjunctive
formpresentimperfectperfectpluperfect
1st sg.mergammergeremmerserimmersissem
2nd sg.mergāsmergerēsmerserīsmersissēs
3rd sg.mergatmergeretmerseritmersisset
1st pl.mergāmusmergerēmusmerserīmusmersissēmus
2nd pl.mergātismergerētismerserītismersissētis
3rd pl.mergantmergerentmerserintmersissent
passive indicative
passive indicative
formpresentimperfectfuture
1st sg.mergormergēbarmergar
2nd sg.mergeris
mergere		mergēbāris
mergēbāre		mergēris
mergēre
3rd sg.mergiturmergēbāturmergētur
1st pl.mergimurmergēbāmurmergēmur
2nd pl.mergiminīmergēbāminīmergēminī
3rd pl.mergunturmergēbanturmergentur
passive subjunctive
passive subjunctive
formpresentimperfect
1st sg.mergarmergerer
2nd sg.mergāris
mergāre		mergerēris
mergerēre
3rd sg.mergāturmergerētur
1st pl.mergāmurmergerēmur
2nd pl.mergāminīmergerēminī
3rd pl.merganturmergerentur
imperative
imperative
formactivepassive
pres. 2nd sg.mergemergere
pres. 2nd pl.mergitemergiminī
fut. 2nd sg.mergitōmergitor
fut. 3rd sg.mergitōmergitor
fut. 2nd pl.mergitōte—
fut. 3rd pl.merguntōmerguntor
infinitives & participles
formactivepassive
present infinitivemergeremergī
perfect infinitivemersissemersum esse
future infinitivemersūrum essemersum īrī
present participlemergēns—
perfect participle—mersus
mersa, mersā, mersae, mersam, mersārum, mersās, merse, mersīs, mersō, mersōrum, mersōs
future participlemersūrus
mersūra, mersūrā, mersūrae, mersūram, mersūrārum, mersūrās, mersūre, mersūrī, mersūrīs, mersūrō, mersūrōrum, mersūrōs, mersūrum		mergendus
mergundus, mergenda, mergendā, mergendae, mergendam, mergendārum, mergendās, mergende, mergendīs, mergendōrum, mergendōs
gerundmergendī, mergendō, mergendumsupinemersum, mersū

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

in voluptates se mergere
to plunge into a life of pleasure.
navem, classem deprimere, mergere
to sink a ship, a fleet.

mergo, si, sum, 3, v. a. cf. Sanscr. madsh-, majan, to dip; Zend, masga, marrow; Germ. Mark; Engl. marrow,
I. to dip, dip in, immerse; absol. also to plunge into water, to sink.
I. Lit. (class.): eos (pullos) mergi in aquam jussit, Cic. N. D. 2, 3, 7: aves, quae se in mari mergunt, id. ib. 2, 49, 124: putealibus undis, Ov. Ib. 391: Stygia undā, id. M. 10, 697: prodigia indomitis merge sub aequoribus, Tib. 2, 5, 80: ab hoc (the sword-fish) perfossas naves mergi, Plin. 32, 2, 6, § 15: mersa navis omnes destituit, Curt. 4, 8, 8: mersa carina, Luc. 3, 632: cum coepisset mergi, Vulg. Matt. 14, 30: in immensam altitudinem mergi, ac sine ulla respirandi vice perpeti maria, Sen. Dial. 4, 12, 4: naves, Eutr. 2, 20: partem classis, Vell. 2, 42, 2: pars maxima classis mergitur, Luc. 3, 753 sq.: nec me deus aequore mersit, Verg. A. 6, 348: sub aequora, Ov. M. 13, 948; Luc. 3, 753: ter matutino Tiberi mergetur, bathe, Juv. 6, 523.—Poet., of overwhelming waters, to engulf, swallow up, overwhelm, etc.: sic te mersuras adjuvet ignis aquas, Ov. Ib. 340: mersa rate, Juv. 14, 302.—
B. Transf.
1. To sink down, sink in, to plunge, thrust, or drive in, to fix in, etc. (poet. and post-Aug. prose): palmitem per jugum mergere, et alligare, to thrust, push, Plin. 17, 22, 35, § 180: aliquem ad Styga, Sen. Thyest. 1007: manum in ora (ursae), to thrust into, Mart. 3, 19, 4: mersisque in corpore rostris Dilacerant (canes) falsi dominum sub imagine cervi, Ov. M. 3, 249: fluvius in Euphratem mergitur, runs or empties into, Plin. 6, 27, 31, § 128: visceribus ferrum. to thrust into, Claud. ap. Eutr. 1, 447.—Of heavenly bodies, etc.: Bootes, Qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano, sinks into, Cat. 66, 68.—
2. In partic., to hide, conceal: mersitque suos in cortice vultus, Ov. M. 10, 498: vultum, Sen. Herc. Oet. 1348: diem or lucem, of the setting of the sun, id. Thyest. 771: terra caelum mergens, i. e. occidentalis, because there the sky seems to sink into the sea, Luc. 4, 54. —Of those on board a vessel: mergere Pelion et templum, i. e. to sail away from until they sink below the horizon: condere, Val. Fl. 2, 6.—
II. Trop., to plunge into, sink, overwhelm, cover, bury, immerse, drown: aliquem malis, Verg. A. 6, 512: funere acerbo, to bring to a painful death, id. ib. 11, 28: mergi in voluptates, to plunge into, yield one's self up to sensual delights, Curt. 10, 3, 9: se in voluptates, Liv. 23, 18: mergit longa atque insignis honorum pagina, Juv. 10, 57.—Esp. in part. pass.: Alexander mersus secundis rebus, overwhelmed with prosperity, Liv. 9, 18: vino somnoque mersi jacent, dead drunk and buried in sleep, id. 41, 3; Luc. 1, 159; cf.: lumina somno, Val. Fl. 8, 66: cum mergeretur somno, Vulg. Act. 20, 9.—Esp. of those whose fortune is swallowed up in debts or debauchery: mersus foro, bankrupt, Plaut Ep. 1, 2, 13: aere paterno Ac rebus mersis in ventrem, Juv. 11, 39: censum domini, Plin. 9, 17, 31, § 67: mergentibus sortem usuris, sinking, destroying his capital, Liv. 6, 14: ut mergantur pupilli, be robbed of their fortune, ruined, Dig. 27, 4, 3: mersis fer opem rebus, bring aid to utter distress, Ov. M. 1, 380.—Of drinking to excess: potatio quae mergit, Sen. Ep. 12.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mesg-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mésgeti
  3. Proto-Italic*mezgō
  4. Latinmergō

Rhotacized form of Proto-Italic *mezgō, from Proto-Indo-European *mésg-e-ti, thematic present of the root *mesg- (“to plunge, dip”). Cognate with Russian промозглый (promozglyj, “dank”), Lithuanian mazgoju (“to wash”), Sanskrit मज्जति (májjati, “dives under”).

Balkano-Romance
  • Romanianmerge
  • Romanianmergere
  • Aromaniannjergu, njeardziri
  • Istro-Romanianmerg
  • Istro-Romanianmere
  • Megleno-Romanianmierg
Borrowings
  • Englishmerge
  • Portuguesemerger
Italo-Romance
  • Italianmergere

Quick answers

What does mergō mean in Latin?
mergō, a verb, means “to dip (in), immerse; plunge into water; drown”.
What are the principal parts of mergō?
mergō, mergere, mersī, mersum (third conjugation).
How do you pronounce mergō?
In classical Latin, [ˈmɛr.ɡoː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmɛr.ɡo].
Where does mergō come from?
Proto-Indo-European *mesg- → Proto-Indo-European *mésgeti → Proto-Italic *mezgō → Latin mergō.