Etymograph

English

merchandise

Merchandise comes from Old French marcheandise, from marcheant ‘seller, vendor’, 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, traffic, deal’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercātus2‘buying and selling, trade, traffic’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*mercātāntem2reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheant2‘seller, vendor’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheandise2
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500marchaundise2‘commerce, trading’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1599merchandise2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mercatus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English merchandise
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “So, if a Sonne that is by his Father…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merksWiktionary, Latin mercatusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerxWiktionary, Latin mercatus‘merchandise, commodity’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercorWiktionary, Latin mercatus‘to trade, traffic, deal’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercātusWiktionary, English merchandise‘buying and selling, trade, traffic’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*mercātāntemWiktionary, English merchandisereconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheantWiktionary, English merchandise‘seller, vendor’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheandiseWiktionary, English merchandise
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500marchaundiseWiktionary, English merchandise‘commerce, trading’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1599merchandiseWiktionary, English merchandise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “So, if a Sonne that is by his Father…”

The story

The English word is analysable as merchant + -ise.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin merx ‘merchandise, commodity’

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

through Latin mercor ‘to trade, traffic, deal’

mercantile, mercantilism, 17 more

through Latin mercātus ‘buying and selling, trade, traffic’

market, mart, 7 more

Another origin of merchandise

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercātus
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*mercātāntemreconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheant‘seller, vendor’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400marcheandise
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500marchaundise
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500marchaundisen‘to engage in commerce, traffic’
  7. Englishtodaymerchandise

Today it means

noun Goods which are or were offered or intended for sale.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “merchandise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mercatus. 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 / merchandise

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