mercimonium Latin · revision 9597

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=itc-pro *merk-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mercimōnium''' ''n'' (genitive mercimōniī or mercimōnī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[merx]] “goods” with the suffix [[-mōnium]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*merk-|t=trade, exchange]] for ⟨merx⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, including the opening of the ''Amphitruo''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was commerce; a purchase, sale, deal; and a market.^(Niermeyer 1976) British Medieval Latin used it for merchandise, stock, as in Bede on the merchants driven from the Temple.^(DMLBS)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Merchandise, goods, [[m|en|wares]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A commercial enterprise, ''(Medieval Latin)'' a deal; a market.^(OLD 2012)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[merx]]

+ * [[mercor]]

+ * [[mercātūra]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}