merco

merco¹ brand, mark

Etymology tree of merco¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin merx

Italian merce

Latin mercor

Spanish mercar

Italian mercare

Italian merco

From the same root · merco¹

Latin commercium ← merx

Latin mercēs ← merx

Latin mercimōnium ← merx

Latin emercor ← mercor

Latin mercātor ← mercor

Latin mercātūra ← mercor

Latin mercātus ← mercor

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɛr.ko/^[1]

Forms

merco m (plural merchi)^[1] An old variant is merchio, in Sacchetti.^[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the brand is a deverbal noun from Italian mercare (“to brand”), the verb of central and southern Italy for marking cattle.^[4][5][1] That verb is Old Occitan mercar, from Germanic.^[4][1] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *markōną (“to mark, to notice”), DEI to Frankish *merkjan.^[1][3]

Zingarelli and DEI take the noun from Old French merc (“brand”), recorded in the 13th century, beside merchier (“to brand”) and Old Occitan merca.^[6][3] Prati leaves both ways open: from the Italian verb, or from the Old French and Old Occitan nouns, which go back to Old High German merken.^[7] GRADIT keeps the derivation from the verb and compares the French noun.^[4]

The word is at home in central and southern Italy: Old Roman merco (“stamp”) and mercare are recorded in 1363 and an Old Abruzzese noun of the same form in the 14th century, and Lazio has merca, and there is Sicilian mercu in Sicily.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word before 1374, and GRADIT to the 14th century, as a mark burnt on cattle.^[6][4] DEI's first Old Roman record, in 1363, means a stamp or seal.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The mark on cattle and the mark on goods are both in the old language;^[3][5] DEI dates the second to the 17th century.^[3][5] Tommaseo knew the word from the Maremma, where it was said for the mark that lets an owner recognise his beasts, and Treccani found it still used for cattle in parts of the Roman countryside, beside the more common merca.^[2][5] In Lucca and Pisa and in the mountains mèrco is also a bruise.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1363 – Old Roman merco “stamp” and mercare are recorded.^[3]
• Before 1374 – Zingarelli's date for merco.^[6]
• 1400s – Merchio is recorded.^[3]
• 1639 – Oudin has merco for the brand on cattle.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete or regional) A brand, a mark of ownership burnt on cattle.^[4][6][1]
2. (obsolete) A mark put on goods.^[5][7]
3. (regional, Lucca) A bruise.^[7][3]

merco² golden fleece (plant)

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɛr.ko/^[1]

Forms

merco m (plural merchi)^[1]

Etymology

The name of the plant is inherited from Latin amărcum (“marjoram”), a shortened variant of the usual Latin form.^[4][8][1] Latin had the word from Ancient Greek ἀμάρακον (amárakon), the name of a fragrant plant.^{[5][1][9][10]}

The learned amaraco “marjoram” is the same Latin word, and Tuscan amàrago was used in 1809 for the same plant that this word names today.^[10] Meyer-Lübke saw the source of maggiorana in a reshaped form of the Latin word, but the LEI notes that this link is now generally rejected.^[11][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the plant name to 1834;^[6][4][8] GRADIT and Devoto–Oli date it before 1840.^[6][4][8]

Semantic evolution

Latin amaracus named several fragrant plants that the ancients did not tell well apart.^[10] In Italian the name passed to a plant of the daisy family with yellow flower heads, whose leaves, like those of chicory, are cooked and eaten; it is also called lattugaccio.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1809 – Tuscan amàrago names the plant in Targioni.^[10]
• 1834 – Zingarelli's date for merco.^[6]
• Before 1840 – GRADIT's date for the word.^[4][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) Smooth golden fleece (Urospermum dalechampii), a plant of the daisy family with yellow flower heads and leaves like those of chicory, eaten cooked: In primavera raccoglievano il merco nei prati.^[4][8][6][1]