merce

Forms

merce f (plural merci)^[1] The old singular Old Italian mercia and plural mercie are recorded in the 13th and early 14th centuries.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin merx (“goods, merchandise”), through its accusative case.^[2][4][3][1] The same word is Old French merz, Old Occitan mertz and Portuguese merce.^[4][5][6]

The origin of the Latin word has not been explained.^[2][7] De Vaan sets it beside Faliscan and Oscan words built on the Proto-Italic stem *merk- (“trade, exchange”), and notes that the name of Latin Mercurius, the god of exchange, belongs to it; since Walde and Hofmann thought the god's name Etruscan, the whole stem may be a loan from Etruscan.^[8] Nocentini thinks it probably comes from the same root as Latin mereō (“to earn, deserve”).^[4] Devoto found no reliable Indo-European connections and thought it probably a Mediterranean word.^[9]

The Latin word also gave the family of merciaio and merceria: G. D. Serra explained Medieval Latin merciarius as an early medieval name for the small trader, beside the great merchant, that spread from northern Italy to Old French and Old Occitan.^[2] Mercimonio is a learned borrowing of Latin mercimōnium, and merceologia a modern coinage.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the plural mercie in a peace treaty of 1264;^[2][3] Giordano da Pisa has the singular la mercia in 1303–1306, and Petrarch the modern plural merci in 1375.^[2][3] The sense is already that of any product made for sale and trade.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From goods in general the word came to name spiritual goods: Petrarch spoke of a ship laden with honest wares, meaning gifts of the mind.^[3][10] Old texts also used it for a market.^[11]

The plural is used after a noun for what carries or stores goods, as in treno merci, carro merci and scalo merci.^[3][7][12] From treno merci comes the masculine noun merci, a goods train, recorded before 1952.^[2] Economics and law have many fixed terms, such as borsa merci (a commodity exchange) and merce di transito.^[3][12] In slang the word can mean stolen goods.^[10]

The family grew from the Middle Ages: merciaio (a haberdasher) is in Giovanni Villani before 1348, merceria in the 14th century, mercimonio (illicit trade) before 1411, and merceologia, the study of commodities, from 1868.^[2]

Timeline

• 1264 – The plural mercie appears in a peace treaty.^[2][7]
• 1271 – Medieval Latin merciarius is recorded at Venice.^[2]
• 1303–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses the singular mercia.^[2][3]
• 1375 – Petrarch uses the plural merci.^[2]
• Before 1348 – Merciai is recorded in Giovanni Villani.^[2]
• 1868 – Merciologia appears in a title of F. Selmi, an early form of merceologia.^[2]
• Before 1952 – Merci for a goods train is recorded in Bruno Barilli.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. goods, merchandise: any product as an object of trade and sale: un camion pieno di merce da consegnare.^{[3][13][14][1]}
2. (in the plural, after a noun) For the carriage or storage of goods: treno merci, scalo merci.^[3][7][12]
3. (figurative) A spiritual good or value, especially a rare one.^[3][14][7]
4. (literary) A gift or virtue of the mind.^[3][10]
5. (slang) Stolen goods.^[10]

Word family

• merciaio
• merceria
• mercimonio
• merceologia
• merceologico
• merceologo
• mercificare
• mercificazione
• smerciare
• smercio

Related words

• mercede
• mercante
• mercato
• Latin merx
• Latin Mercurius

Usage notes

Merce “goods” is not mercé “mercy, thanks to”, a shortened form of mercede, from Latin mercēs “wages”.^[9][5] The plural merci is also a masculine noun meaning a goods train.^[2][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
7. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse