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mercero

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word mercero

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1611 Covarrubias, Tesoro de la lengua castellana More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Latin merx

Forms

mercero m (plural merceros, feminine mercera, feminine plural merceras)[1]

Etymology

The DLE and Wiktionary take it as a back-formation from Spanish mercería.[2][1] Prat Sabater counts it instead among the Catalan loans ending in ⟨-ero⟩, from Catalan mercer (“haberdasher”), which the DCVB derives from *merciarius (“shopkeeper”).[3][4] mercería is itself merceria, a derivative of Latin merx (“goods, merchandise”), of the family of merced, comercio and mercado.[5][6] Older dictionaries derived the word straight from the Latin noun.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel lists thirty medieval records, often in the form mercer (also mercero, merçero), the earliest in the index of the cathedral charters of Huesca, which spans documents up to 1213.[9] The first dictionary to define it is Covarrubias's Tesoro (1611): one who buys and sells small everyday goods, mercería being that trade.[10]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades defined the mercero as one who trades in small things of little value, quoting the Pícara Justina.[11] Terreros equated him with a pedlar (buhonero, mercachifle).[12] In the Americas the word is recorded from Potosí in 1723.[13] Today it is the shopkeeper who sells haberdashery: thread, buttons, ribbons and the like.[2][14]

Timeline

  • 1611 – Covarrubias defines mercero.[10]
  • 1723 – first recorded in the Americas, in Potosí.[13]
  • 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it with a quotation from the Pícara Justina.[11]
  • 1884 – the Academy derives it from Latin merx.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A haberdasher, a person who sells the goods of a mercería: thread, buttons, ribbons and other small articles.[2][14][1]

Usage notes

The feminine is mercera.[2][1] In Mexico the word was also mercillero.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. mercero
  3. ^ Prat Sabater, Marta (2003), Préstamos del catalán en el léxico español, doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, p. 271
  4. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. mercer
  5. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mercería
  6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. mercería
  7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 696
  8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. mercero
  9. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. mercero
  10. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1130
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 550
  12. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 570
  13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. mercero
  14. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mercero
  15. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 273
Cite this entry

“Mercero.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/mercero. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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