Origin and history of dicker

dicker(v.)

"haggle, bargain in a petty way," 1802 (implied in dickering), American English, perhaps from dicker (n.) "a unit or package of tens," especially hides (attested from late 13c.), a Germanic word (compare Swedish decker, Danish deger, German decher), which is perhaps from Latin decuria "parcel of ten" (supposedly a unit of barter on the Roman frontier; compare German Decher "set of ten things"), from decem "ten" (from PIE root *dekm- "ten") on model of centuria from centum.

also from 1802

Entries linking to dicker

dickering(n.)

"trading on a small scale by bargain and barter," 1802, American English; see dicker (v.).

*dekm-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "ten."

It might form all or part of: cent; centenarian; centenary; centi-; centime; centurion; century; centennial; cinquecento; dean; deca-; decade; decagon; Decalogue; Decameron; decapod; decathlon; December; decennial; deci-; decile; decimal; decimate; decimation; decuple; decussate; denarius; denier (n.) "French coin;" dicker; dime; dinar; doyen; dozen; duodecimal; duodecimo; eighteen; fifteen; fourteen; hecatomb; hendeca-; hundred; icosahedron; nineteen; nonagenarian; octogenarian; Pentecost; percent; quattrocento; Septuagint; sexagenarian; seventeen; sixteen; ten; tenth; thirteen; thousand; tithe; -ty (1).

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dasa, Avestan dasa, Armenian tasn, Greek deka, Latin decem (source of Spanish diez, French dix), Old Church Slavonic deseti, Lithuanian dešimt, Old Irish deich, Breton dek, Welsh deg, Albanian djetu, Old English ten, Old High German zehan, Gothic taihun "ten."

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Origin and history of dicker

dicker(v.)

Entries linking to dicker

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