Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Numismatics
/ˌnuːmɪzˈmætɪks/noun
The study and collecting of coins, paper money and medals.
The Greek roots
νόμισμα
nómisma
coin, current money
Literally: “the study of what custom sanctions”
Follow a root:νόμισμα1 word
The story of the word
νόμισμα comes from νόμος, custom or law, and means the thing the community has agreed to accept. Aristotle leans on that in the Nicomachean Ethics when he says money exists not by nature but by convention. English took the word through Latin numisma and French numismatique, arriving at the modern name for the discipline in 1829.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 1829
Same family
antinomianautonomyeconomyastronomy
In a sentence
He got into numismatics after inheriting a shoebox of his grandfather's silver.
The auction catalogue is a numismatics reference in its own right.