Re: etymology of MERCURIUS

João wrote:

> Does anybody knows the etymology of Mercurius?
>
> Relation with merx "market" must be folk etymology...
> Etrusques call him TURMS
> Mercuris < *Melcurius < *Melek-qart ?

Romans and Greeks equated Melkart with Hercules rather than Mercury.
The Etruscan TURMS is close to the Greek HERMS, with whom I suspect
there is a cognate. I am not sure of the shift from L to R in Latin.
What do you others think?

Regards

John