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emercor

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word emercor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
98–115 AD, Tacitus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic *merk-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mercor
Latin emercor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈmɛr.kɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈmɛr.kor][1]

Forms

ēmercor (present infinitive ēmercārī, perfect active ēmercātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + mercor (“to trade, buy”).[2][3][1] That verb is formed from merx (“goods”), which de Vaan derives from a stem *merk- “trade, exchange”, also found in Faliscan and Oscan; he notes that the stem may have been borrowed from Etruscan.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word belongs to Tacitus,[3] who uses it in the Annals of winning people over with gifts and bribes: a man buys the greed of an official, avāritiam praefectī ēmercātur.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Tacitus uses it of corrupting enemies into breaking faith, of buying an adultery with lavish gifts and of buying access to the emperor.[3][6] Ammianus takes it over from him, and also uses it with a passive sense: kings were won over with costly clothes, and shouts that were not paid for.[3][7] The Latin Josephus ascribed to Hegesippus has it too.[3]

Timeline

  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of bribing officials and enemies.[3][8]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it, also in a passive sense.[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To win over (a person) by bribes, to corrupt.[2][3][5]
  2. To procure (a favour or an advantage) by bribery, to buy.[2][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Emercor.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/emercor. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·