First off, salvete amici! I am new and want thank you all for such a wonderful forum; I hope to be able to contribute in the future, but for now I have a quick question: does anybody know if pecunia and peccare are etymologically related - you know, in the sense that “money is the root of all evil” or in this case sin? It is a silly question, but has been nagging me! Thanks so much for the help!
-Ethan
Hi Ethan,
That would be a fun connection, but unfortunately I don’t think there’s a common etymological root.
Here are the beginnings for these two entries in the Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary:
pecco, āvi, ātum, 1, v. n. and
I. a. [often referred to Sanscr. pāpa, pāpaka, wicked; but better to root pik-, to be angry; cf.: piget, pigeo, and Fick, Vergl. Wört. 632]
pĕcūnĭa, ae (on the oldest inscrr., also written PEQVNIA, as PEQVDES, PEQVLIVM), f. pecus, because the wealth of the ancients consisted in cattle: pecus, a quo pecunia universa, quod in pecore pecunia tum consistebat pastoribus, Varr. L. L. 5, § 95 Müll.; cf. Fest. s. v. peculatus, p. 212 and 213 Müll.,
In other words, “pecunia” comes from the word for cattle, which once functioned as sources of wealth (which is a pretty interesting etymology in itself); “peccare” seems to be related to some sense of evil or anger.
Thanks for the quick response! I knew the root of pecunia, but I could not find peccare. It is interesting that pecunia comes from cattle; it is really interesting that this same phenomenon shows up in Germanic languages. Our “fee”, I believe, comes from the German vieh (cattle)… and I just looked that up and found vieh comes from the Goths’ (as in visi/ostra - gothic, not people with way too much black clothing, lol 
) “faihu”. And a quick tangent: are Germanic languages PIE? If not, it sure is interesting that such a similar evolution took place. I wonder if something similar might exist in any other language families, and if the “faihu” / “pecunia” evolution is related; Id est, did the Goths use faihu to mean money before any contact with Rome.
The Germanic language group (which includes English) is definitely a member of the Indo-European family.
Your thoughts about the German connection to “pecus” are correct. Here’s the entry for “pecus”:
pĕcus, pecŏris, n. [Zend, pacu, cattle; cf. Goth. faihu; Angl.-Sax. feó, cattle; Germ. Vieh; Engl. fee. Fick refers the word to root pag- of pango, etc.]
All seem to stem from some PIE word, which makes sense, given that cattle/livestock would be a basic language word for most societies that would get passed on over the years.
Wow, this web-site is A-mazing! I wish I had found it earlier; thank you sooooo much for your help. I am immersing myself in Wheelock right now in preparation for graduate school and I think I just found my go-to source for help… hopefully by the end of the summer I may even be able to contribute some answers.
For now, tibi gratias ago!
No problem. The ones you should be thanking in this case are Lewis and Short (and their Latin dictionary), whence I copied these facts. Check out http://athirdway.com/glossa/
Cows. It always goes back to cows.
Oppugno: I hit you (for cows)
Amo: I love (cows)
Moneo: I warn (stay away from my cows!)
etc
Pass any exam.