The Temple at the Root of Money
The English word "money" and the French "monnaie" both have their roots in the name of a single temple that stood on a Roman hill.
The Roman mint was located in the Temple of Juno Moneta on the Capitoline Hill. Silver was struck beside the temple.
In time, the word "Moneta" came to refer to the mint itself. Then, it came to mean the coinage itself.
The English "money" and the French "monnaie" are both descendants of this temple's name.
When a Place's Name Becomes an Object's Name
The path of the word is simple: the name of the temple, then the name of the workshop located there, and finally the name of the thing made there. The place gave the object its name.
Other examples of this pattern exist. The word "bank" comes from the bench used by money changers. The "dollar" is a descendant of the "thaler," a large silver coin struck in Joachim's Valley (Joachimsthal) in Bohemia. The "peso" was simply a word meaning "weight."
The names of currencies are often fossils of a place, a tool, or a weight.
Who Was Moneta?
Regarding the "Moneta" in Juno Moneta, it is said to mean "the one who warns."
However, this school's materials do not verify anything beyond this point. This is because we do not have a definitive answer as to why the goddess was given this name. The origin of an origin is usually shrouded in obscurity.
Etymology Requires Three Shelves
This school's linguistics course treats etymologies by sorting them onto three shelves:
- The "Confirmed" shelf: Those that can be traced through a continuous documentary record. From *banco* to bank, from thaler to dollar, that peso means weight.
- The "Probable" shelf: Those that are considered likely but have multiple competing theories, such as the origin of the dollar sign.
- The "Unverified" shelf: Famous etymological tales, like "salary" coming from payments in salt, that are not substantiated by our school's materials.
The path from Moneta to "money" can be placed on the first shelf. The origin of Moneta itself cannot. Even for a single word, the shelves can be different.
Cite by the Shelf's Name
Etymology is a first-rate historical source. At the same time, it is a breeding ground for popular theories passed down without verification.
That is why we cite by the shelf's name. We do not say "it has been confirmed" and "it is said" in the same tone. This simple distinction transforms pub trivia into a citation of historical sources.
At the root of the word for "money" around the world lies a single Roman temple. This sentence can be placed on the "Confirmed" shelf.
More in The origin of words
The Currency and Men Bearing the Name Frank
An inscription meaning 'King of the Franks' became the name of a currency. A great king established a silver system that lasted a thousand years, and a printer in a distant land supported the credit of paper money.
The Accounts of a Kingdom Facing South and Beyond the Sea
In the second half of the twelfth century, Castile struck gold coins with inscriptions entirely in Arabic. From this south-facing kingdom would later emerge the tax system imposed on the silver of the New World.
The Unit of Weight Called the Grain
The American silver dollar was defined as three hundred seventy-one and one-quarter grains. The Indian rupee is also described in grains. This is the story of a unit of weight that connects two coins from different countries and eras.
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Everything in these pieces comes from the material itself.