Etymologically
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mercimonium

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Forms

mercimōnium n (genitive mercimōniī or mercimōnī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from merx “goods” with the suffix -mōnium.[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *merk- (“trade, exchange”) for ⟨merx⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, including the opening of the Amphitruo.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It was an article of merchandise, goods, wares, as in Plautus and Tacitus, and a commercial enterprise, as in Plautus, and Lewis & Short call it ante-classical and post-Augustan.[2][7][5]

In Medieval Latin it was commerce; a purchase, sale, deal; and a market.[8] British Medieval Latin used it for merchandise, stock, as in Bede on the merchants driven from the Temple.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it.[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Merchandise, goods, wares.[2]
  2. A commercial enterprise, (Medieval Latin) a deal; a market.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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 c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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