Etymologically
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mercatura

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Forms

mercātūra f (genitive mercātūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from mercor “to trade” with the suffix -ūra; ⟨mercor⟩ is from merx “goods”.[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *merk- (“trade, exchange”), also found in Faliscan and Oscan, and Walde and Hofmann thought the god Mercury's name Etruscan, and de Vaan allows that the whole stem could be.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Gaffiot cite Plautus' Trinummus.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was trade, traffic, commerce, the business of a merchant, as in Plautus and Cicero, who held small trade mean but great trade not to be despised.[2][6][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was trade, traffic, commerce.[7] Medieval Latin used it for merchandise.[8] British Medieval Latin used it for commerce, business, trade.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero discusses trade.[6][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Trade, commerce.[2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Merchandise.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press