pecuniary
/pɪˈkjuːniəri/
adjective
Origin
Latin
pecus — cattle, livestock
Overview
Meaning Now
- relating to or consisting of money.
Literal older meaning
of or relating to cattle
Language path
Latin → English
Earliest form
pecuniarius
Earliest period
16th century
Journey
In early pastoral societies, wealth was synonymous with livestock. As the Latin term 'pecus' evolved into 'pecunia', it maintained the root connection to cows, reflecting an ancient economy where wealth was measured in heads of cattle before the widespread adoption of standardized coinage.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*peku-
“wealth, livestock”
- Latin
pecus
“cattle”
- Latin
pecunia
“property, wealth, money”
Transition from livestock to general wealth.
- English (16th century)
pecuniary
“monetary”
Connections
Word parts
pecuni-
root
money, wealth
-ary
suffix
pertaining to
Related across languages
French
pécuniaire
pecuniary
Italian
pecuniario
pecuniary
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Related to pecuniary
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.