1590s, agmarine, "bluish-green type of beryl," from French or Provençal, from Latin aqua marina "sea water," from aqua "water" (from PIE root *akwa- "water") + marina, fem. of marinus "of the sea" (from PIE root *mori- "body of water"). As a description of a bluish-green color, apparently first used by Ruskin, 1846; the abbreviation aqua is attested from 1936.
"the selling of goods in small quantities," mid-15c., verbal noun from retail (v.).
1560s, "act of sealing with a sign," from consign + -ment. (Earlier in this sense was consignation, 1530s, from Medieval Latin consignatio). Meaning "delivering over" is from 1660s; especially of goods, for the sake of sale or auction, from c. 1700. Meaning "quantity of goods so assigned" is recorded from 1720s.
common Irish surname, from Old Irish ceallach "war." As a type of pool played with 15 balls, it is attested from 1898. Kelly green first recorded 1917.
"illegal manufacture, distribution, or sale of goods," also boot-legging, 1890, from bootleg (q.v.).
"goods taken from an enemy by force; act or action of plundering," 1640s, from plunder (v.).
late 14c., marchaundising, "goods, commodities, mercantile business," verbal noun from merchandize (v.). Meaning "trade, commerce" is from mid-15c. That of "promotion of goods for sale, activities meant to stimulate interest in products" is by 1910.
"with reference to," used from c. 1700 in legalese, from Latin (in) re "in the matter of," from ablative of res "property, goods; matter, thing, affair," from Proto-Italic *re-, from PIE *reh-i- "wealth, goods" (source also of Sanskrit rayi- "property, goods," Avestan raii-i- "wealth"). Its non-legalese use is execrated by Fowler in three different sections of "Modern English Usage."
early 15c., "one who squanders or wastes," agent noun from consume. In economics, "one who uses up goods or articles, one who destroys the exchangeable value of a commodity by using it" (opposite of producer), from 1745.
Consumer goods is attested from 1890. In U.S., consumer price index calculated since 1919, tracking "changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services" [Bureau of Labor Statistics]; abbreviation CPI is attested by 1971.
