mercor

Latin

Alternative forms

• mercō (Old Latin, rare)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *merks

Latin merx

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -or

Latin mercor

From merx + -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛr.kɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛr.kor]

Verb

mercor (present infinitive mercārī or mercārier, perfect active mercātus sum); first conjugation, deponent

1. to trade, deal, sell

   Nam ut cuiusque studium ex aetāte flāgrābat, aliīs scorta praebēre, aliīs canēs atque equōs mercārī.

   As the passions of each, according to his years, appeared excited, he furnished mistresses to some, bought horses and dogs for others.

Conjugation

   Conjugation of mercor (first conjugation, deponent)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	mercor		mercāris, mercāre		mercātur		mercāmur		mercāminī		mercantur
	imperfect	mercābar		mercābāris, mercābāre		mercābātur		mercābāmur		mercābāminī		mercābantur
	future	mercābor		mercāberis, mercābere		mercābitur		mercābimur		mercābiminī		mercābuntur
	perfect	mercātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	mercātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	mercātus + future active indicative of sum
	sigmatic future1	mercāssor		mercāsseris		mercāssitur		—		—		—
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	mercer		mercēris, mercēre		mercētur		mercēmur		mercēminī		mercentur
	imperfect	mercārer		mercārēris, mercārēre		mercārētur		mercārēmur		mercārēminī		mercārentur
	perfect	mercātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	mercātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		mercāre		—		—		mercāminī		—
	future	—		mercātor		mercātor		—		—		mercantor
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		mercārī, mercārier2			—			mercāns			—
future		mercātūrum esse			—			mercātūrus			mercandus
perfect		mercātum esse			—			mercātus			—
future perfect		mercātum fore			—			—			—
perfect potential		mercātūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		mercandī		mercandō		mercandum		mercandō		mercātum		mercātū

¹At least one use of the Old Latin "sigmatic future" tense is attested, which is used by Old Latin writers; most notably Plautus and Terence. The sigmatic future is generally ascribed a future or future perfect meaning, and, as the verb is deponent, takes the form of what would otherwise be the rare sigmatic future passive indicative tense (which is not attested in the plural for any verb).
²The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

Derived terms

• commercor
• ēmercor
• mercābilis
• mercāns
• mercantia
• mercātiō
• mercātor
• mercātōrius
• mercātūra
• mercātus

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: marcà
  • Italian: mercare
    • → Sardinian: mercare
  • Neapolitan: mercà (dialectal)
  • Sicilian: mircari
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: mercar (archaic)
  • Occitan: merçar
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: mercar
  • Asturian: mercar
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: mercar
    • Galician: mercar
    • Portuguese: mercar
  • Old Spanish: mercar
    • Ladino: merkar
    • Spanish: mercar

See also

• mereō
• merx

References

• “mercor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “mercor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “mercor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.