Etymograph

English

mercantilism

Mercantilism comes from French mercantile ‘mercantile, commercial’, from Italian mercantile ‘merchant’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *merks.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merks1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerx1‘merchandise, commodity’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercor1‘to trade, deal, sell’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercantem1
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentmercante1‘merchant, dealer, trader, monger’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentmercantile1‘merchant’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmercantile1‘mercantile, commercial’
  8. English1500–presentmercantile1
  9. Englishtodaymercantilism1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mercantilism

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merksWiktionary, English mercantilismreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerxWiktionary, English mercantilism‘merchandise, commodity’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercorWiktionary, English mercantilism‘to trade, deal, sell’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercantemWiktionary, English mercantilism
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentmercanteWiktionary, English mercantilism‘merchant, dealer, trader, monger’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilism‘merchant’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilism‘mercantile, commercial’
  8. English1500–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilism
  9. EnglishtodaymercantilismWiktionary, English mercantilism

Linked words

through Latin merx ‘merchandise, commodity’

commercial, commerce, mercy, mercer, mercenary, merci, 18 more

through Latin mercor ‘to trade, deal, sell’

market, merchant, merchandise, 17 more

Today it means

noun The theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade, in the manner that a merchant would operate a shop. Typically this model presupposes protectionism.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mercantilism”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *merks / mercantilism

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