English → Latin
“commerce” in Latin
mercorto trade, deal, sellmercātiōa dealing in wares, a tradingnegōtiumbusiness, employment, occupation, affair; difficulty, pains, trouble, labor; matter, thing (= πρᾶγμα (prâgma))commerciumTrade, traffic, commerce, exchange.; Intercourse, communication, correspondence, fellowship.; The right to trade as a meconversātiōway of life, conduct or behavior; familiarity; monastic lifeūtorto use, make use of, employ; to enjoy, indulge in, take advantage of; to experience, undergo, encountercōnsuētūdōThe act of habituating; state of being habituated or accustomed, habituation.; A custom, habit, use, usage, convention, convincōto convince; to conquer, establish; to convict, find guiltyVelleiusof or pertaining to the gens Velleia.
The English word commerce itself goes back to Latin merx, through commercium.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
commerce
mercatura (especially of the merchant): mercatio (commercial transaction, the buying and selling, Gell., 3, 3): negotium, or plur., negotia (the business which anybody carries on, especially as corn-merchant and money-lender): commercium (commerce, commercial intercourse, Sall., Jug: 18, 6: Pliny 33, 1, 3; with anything, alicujus rei, Plin., 12, 14, 30: then also = liberty of commerce): wholesale business, mercatura magna et copiosa: in retail, mercatura tenuis [Vid: TRADE]. The Roman merchants carry on a commerce with Gaul, mercatores Romani ad Gallos commeant (i. e., they visit Gaul with their merchandise, Caes., B.G., 1, 1).
Social intercourse, conversatio (Velleius, Quint..): usus: consuetudo (of his service, etc.): convictus (in so far as one lives with anybody): Vid: INTERCOURSE.
commerce v.
Vid: the above article.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for commerce?
- The usual Latin words for “commerce” are mercor, mercātiō, negōtium; also commercium, conversātiō, ūtor. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.