mercenary的词源

英文词源

mercenary (n.)

late 14c., "one who works only for hire," from Old French mercenaire "mercenary, hireling" (13c.) and directly from Latin mercenarius "one who does anything for pay," literally "hired, paid," from merces (genitive mercedis) "pay, reward, wages," from merx (see market (n.)).

mercenary (adj.)

1530s, from mercenary (n.), or in part from Latin mercenarius "hired, paid, serving for pay."

中文词源

mercenary：只为金钱的，雇佣兵

来自拉丁语mercari,交易，买卖，词源同market.引申词义买卖的，花钱雇的，词义贬义化，用于指只为金钱的人，最后特用于指雇佣兵。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：mercenary 词源，mercenary 含义。