the word market

The word market comes from the Latin word mercatus. The word mercatus continues to be used in business titles where commerce is involved. The Latin word "commercium" has a similar meaning and refers to trade, or commerce.

Asclepius vs Hermes

This story behind the word mercatus is interesting.

Here is a raw version of it.

Mercury was Mercurius to the Romans who were the initial Latin speaking people. Mercurius was the patron saint of merchants and those traders who would travel with caravans to all points from Rome within and outside of the Roman boundaries. These traders met in the mercatus.

Rome wasn't thought of until 753 BC or thereabouts. That 's when the legendary Romulus and Remus, sons of the war god Mercury, battle each other out to the death of Remus. Rome is named after Romulus and Mercurius becomes the messenger of the Gods. He may be an extension of the Greek messenger of the Gods called Hermes. Hermes carried a walking staff which becomes part of the symbol recognized as the rod of Asclepius. Hermes was also the patron of merchants, thiefs, gamblers, and travelers.

That story is equally interesting but would stray from the purpose of this post which is to find the root of the word market.

But we have already pointed to Mercatus as being a market. So all that needs to be done is to follow the trail from the initial colony of Romulus.

Rome travels and conquers and legions of soldiers are set up at posts along the way in order to protect the mercatus. Mercurius protects those who are loyal to Rome - this might explain why old statues of Mercury show him wearing a purse. It's always "rent due" somewhere. Centuries pass and the Germanic tribes set up in the north part of Europe.

Mercatus follows up by becoming words of different languages such as mercado in spanish, marchiet in old French, etc...

By approximately 1100 BC the Anglo Saxons who were by now settled on the Island of England were using the word market to refer to "a meeting at a fixed time for buying livestock and provisions". That was a quote from the online etymology dictionary. At first the word market was a noun and used in phrases like,

"off to the market"

"yo homey we got a ject fo' da market"

That last one is still used in Harlem.

By the 17th century the word market was also being used as a verb.

As in "we can market almost any thing brother".

Or the Harlem version, "that there dank be marketable homey".

It all began with snakes and the word market continues to be about snakes.