commerce

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkɒm.ɜːs/, US /ˈkɑː.mɝːs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French commerce,^[2][3][4] a learned borrowing of Latin commercium (“trade, trafficking”),^[2][5] from com- (“together, with”) and merx (“wares, merchandise”) (genitive mercis; see market).^[2][4][5] Collins derives commercium from the verb commercārī, from mercārī “to trade”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Social intercourse, dealings in the affairs of life: 1537 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU.^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Trade, the exchange of goods, especially on a large scale between countries, is from 1587, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[7][4] Commerce also meant communion with God or one's thoughts (1597), the exchange of letters and ideas (1608–11), and sexual intercourse (1624).^[7] It was the name of a card game very popular in the 1770s and 1780s.^[4] The verb, to trade or to have dealings with, is from the late 16th century and now archaic.^[7][8] Commercial is from before 1687, and commercialize from 1830.^[2]

Timeline

• 1537 – dealings, social intercourse.^[7]
• 1587 – trade.^[7]
• 1596 – the verb, to associate with.^[7]
• 1624 – sexual intercourse.^[7]
• 1770s – a popular card game.^[4]
• 1830 – commercialize.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The buying and selling of goods and services, especially on a large scale; trade.
2. Social dealings and the exchange of ideas.
3. (archaic) Sexual intercourse.

Word family

• commercial
• chamber of commerce

Related words

• merchant
• mercantile
• mercenary
• mercy
• market

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press