mersi

Etymology

It is borrowed from French merci (“thank you”), a Frenchism of the 19th century.^[2][3][4][1] The French word comes from Latin mercēs (“wages, reward”), which in Late Latin also came to mean “favour, grace”.^[5][6] Graur places it in the family of merx (“goods”), with miercuri and comerț.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a dialogue in the review Contemporanul (volume VI), where a woman answers “Healthy, thanks” to a question about her health.^[3][2] MDA2 dates it by the review's first year, 1881.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Dictionaries label it a Frenchism or a familiar word: it is the casual counterpart of mulțumesc.^[3][7][8] An ironic use, thanks for something unwelcome, is recorded in the DLR from 1965, and slang dictionaries list it as an exclamation of disappointment.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1880s – first record, in Contemporanul.^[3][2]
• 1965 – ironic use in the review Contemporanul.^[3]

Meanings

Interjection

1. (colloquial) thanks, thank you.^[7][2][1]
2. (ironic) Used of something unwelcome: thanks for nothing, no use at all.^[3][9]

Related words

• mulțumesc
• French merci

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1492
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mersi
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 622
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 58
7. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 642
8. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. mersi
9. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. mersi