Where does “merci” come from?

merci (French) comes from Middle French merci, from Old French merci, from Latin mercēs, from Latin merx, from Proto-Italic *merks.

merci (French): thank you; mercy, grace

Definitions

  1. thank you; mercy, grace

Ancestry of “merci”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchmerci—
2Old Frenchmercimercy; clemency
3Latinmercēspay, wages, reward
4Latinmerxmerchandise, commodity; goods, wares
5Proto-Italic*merks—

Words derived from “merci”

Every word from Proto-Italic *merks →Every word from Latin merx →Every word from Latin mercēs →