Etymograph

English

merci

Merci comes from French merci ‘thank you’, from Old French merci ‘mercy’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *merks.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merksreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerx‘merchandise’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercēsas mercēdem‘wages, fee, price’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400merci‘mercy’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘thank you’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1995same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*merksreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmerx‘merchandise’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmercēsas mercēdem‘wages, fee, price’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400merci‘mercy’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘thank you’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1995same form

Earliest quotation: 1995, Peter Arnold, The Book of Card Games: “Few games are won without the merci. In the…”

Linked words

through Latin merx ‘merchandise’

market, commercial, commerce, merchant, merchandise, mercantile, mercer, mercantilism, 17 more

through Latin mercēs ‘wages, fee, price’

mercy, mercenary

Today it means

intj Thank you.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *merks / merci

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