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meretrix

Etymology and origin of the Latin word meretrix

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (mereō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈmɛ.rɛ.triːks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛː.re.triks][1]

Forms

meretrīx f (genitive meretrīcis, masculine meretor); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from mereō “to earn” with the feminine agent suffix -trīx, literally “a woman who earns”.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the early derivatives of ⟨mereō⟩, whose origin he considers problematic.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first source is Plautus, whom Köbler dates c. 250–184 BC.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a courtesan, a kept woman, a prostitute, and Plautus calls them all “enticements to money”.[2][6] Döderlein contrasts it with paelex, a married man's mistress seen as the wife's rival, and concubīna, any bed-fellow.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a harlot.[8] British Medieval Latin used it for a courtesan or kept woman, and it appears in Alcuin.[9] It was borrowed into Italian meretrice and Spanish meretriz.[1] Its adjective meretrīcius gave English meretricious in the 1620s, “pertaining to harlots”.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[4][5]
  • 1620s – English meretricious is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A courtesan, kept woman, prostitute.[2][6]

Word family

  • meretrīcius
  • meretricor
  • meretrīcula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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
Cite this entry

“Meretrix.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/meretrix. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·