Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “mercenaire” come from?

mercenaire (French) comes from Latin mercēnārius, from Latin mercēs, from Latin merx, from Proto-Italic *merks.

mercenaire (French): mercenary

Definitions

  1. mercenary

Ancestry of “mercenaire”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmercēnārius—
2Latinmercēs—
3Latinmerxmerchandise, commodity; goods, wares
4Proto-Italic*merks—

Words derived from “mercenaire”

  • mercenairement
Every word from Proto-Italic *merks →