Where does “mercantilism” come from?
Mercantilism derives from English mercantile and the Ancient Greek suffix -ισμός, itself from -μός, ultimately from Latin merx meaning goods or merchandise.
mercantilism (English): The theory that a nation must always have a...
Definitions
- The theory that a nation must always have a...
Ancestry of “mercantilism”, step by step
mercantilism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English mercantile
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | mercantile | Concerned with the exchange of goods for profit;... |
| 2 | French | mercantile | mercantile, commercial |
| 3 | Italian | mercantile | merchant; mercantile, commercial |
| 4 | Italian | mercante | merchant, dealer, trader, monger |
| 5 | Latin | mercans | trading |
| 6 | Latin | mercor | I trade, deal, sell |
| 7 | Latin | merx | merchandise, commodity; goods, wares |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *merks | — |
via French mercantilisme
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | mercantilisme | mercantilism |
| 2 | French | -ïsme | -ism, variant of -isme following vowels |
| 3 | Latin | -isma | Alternative form of -ismus; -ism |
| 4 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |