Etymograph

English

mercantilist

Mercantilist 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. Englishearliest quotation 1957mercantilist1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mercantilist
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1957, 1944, Karl Polanyi: “On this point there was no difference between mercantilists…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merksWiktionary, English mercantilistreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerxWiktionary, English mercantilist‘merchandise, commodity’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercorWiktionary, English mercantilist‘to trade, deal, sell’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercantemWiktionary, English mercantilist
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentmercanteWiktionary, English mercantilist‘merchant, dealer, trader, monger’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilist‘merchant’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilist‘mercantile, commercial’
  8. English1500–presentmercantileWiktionary, English mercantilist
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1957mercantilistWiktionary, English mercantilist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1957, 1944, Karl Polanyi: “On this point there was no difference between mercantilists…”

A compound of mercantile + -ist

Proto-Italic *merks

…

Latin mercantem

Italian mercante ‘merchant’

Italian mercantile ‘merchant’

French mercantile ‘mercantile, commercial’

English mercantile

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

adj Of, pertaining to, or believing in mercantilism.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mercantilist”. 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 / mercantilist

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