monger

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Origin uncertain, possibly from monger (“dealer or trader in a specific commodity”) (etymology 1); or related to Middle English mangbot (“type of fishing boat used on the Thames”).

1. A small seagoing vessel used for fishing.

   “[C]erteyne Fyſhermen that go a trawlyng for fyſhe in Catches or mongers, and dradgies for Oyſters about the ſandes, […]”

   “monger: a small sea-vessel used by fishermen.”

verb

Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English mongere, mangere (“dealer, merchant, trader”), from Old English mangere (“dealer, merchant, trader”), from Proto-West Germanic *mangārī (“dealer, merchant, monger”), from Latin mangō (“dealer, trader”) + Proto-West Germanic *-ārī (suffix forming agent nouns, especially denoting occupations). The further etymology of mangō is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested: * From Ancient Greek μαγγανεύω (manganeúō, “to use charms or philtres; to cheat, play tricks; to dress food artificially to make it appear better”), from μάγγᾰνον (mángănon, “means of bewitching, charm, philtre”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *meng- (“to dress, embellish, trim”); or from Arabic ن ج ل (n j l, root relating to pouring out or thrusting)) + -εύω (-eúō, suffix forming denominative verbs of activity or condition). * From Latin *manicō, *manigō (“deal, trade; to handle, manage (?)”), from manus (“hand”); further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”), or *mon-u-. The verb is either derived from the noun, or is a back-formation from mongering (adjective or noun).

1. To deal in, peddle, or sell (something).

   “There were Mongols hawking sheepskins and Chinese vending calendars and pocket calculators, North Koreans flogging jewelry and Vietnamese mongering shirts and leather jackets.”

2. To promote (something, especially an undesirable thing); to peddle.

   “She [Grace Kelly] was beautiful and elegant but, above all, good. […] Not even Hedda Hopper could monger scandal in her regard.”

   “[T]he paper towel industry has funded or promoted a rash of studies claiming that hand dryers turn bathrooms into mosh pits of pathogens. […] Once these fears have been mongered, their spread is irresistible.”