Where does “mercer” come from?

Mercer comes from Old French mercer, from Latin merz, though the original meaning is uncertain.

mercer (English): A merchant dealing in fabrics and textiles,...

Definitions

  1. A merchant dealing in fabrics and textiles,...

Ancestry of “mercer”, step by step

mercer traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French mercer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmercermerchant, textile merchant
2Old Frenchmerz—
3Latinmerxmerchandise, commodity; goods, wares
4Proto-Italic*merks—

via Old French marcer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmarcer—
2Latinmerzcommodity
Every word from Proto-Italic *merks →Every word from Latin merx →Every word from Old French merz →