How did ‘concern’ semantically shift to mean ‘commercial enterprise ‘?
No, it’s not a “concern” in the sense of “worries”. It’s a concern in the sense of “commercial enterprise, entity”.
PS: From the sense of busyness came the business meaning of “concern” I suppose.
1. How are these 2 senses of concern related? What semantic notions underlie the popular sense of ‘worries’, with this esoteric sense of ‘commercial enterprise’? I need much more detail than these snippety sentences above.
2. Please trace all semantic shifts from Latin concern?
(“I mix, sift, or mingle together, as in a sieve”) to this sense of English ‘concern’? How, and why, did concern? shift to concern meaning “an establishment for the transaction of business”?
I never heard of this ‘obscure meaning where it means “business”’!
FYI a “concern” is quite old english for an establishment or business of some kind.
3. But why use concern when “business”, “corporation”, or “enterprise” are more intuitive and understandable?
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