*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of CM

Sense "commercial" is a borrowing from Japanese CM (CM, “commercial video ad”), from English commercial + message.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

Initialism of College of Medicine. · Initialism of Command Module (“Apollo Command Module”).

noun

Initialism of chief minister. · A member of the Order of Canada. · Initialism of commercial message (“commercial video ad”). · Initialism of Candidate Master.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Sense "commercial" is a borrowing from Japanese CM (CM, “commercial video ad”), from English commercial + message.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 8 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ja",
        "3": "CM",
        "4": "",
        "5": "commercial video ad"
      },
      "expansion": "Japanese CM (CM, “commercial video ad”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "commercial"
      },
      "expansion": "English commercial"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "CM",
      "CM#Japanese"
    ],
    [
      "commercial",
      "commercial"
    ],
    [
      "video",
      "video"
    ],
    [
      "ad",
      "ad"
    ],
    [
      "commercial",
      "commercial#English"
    ],
    [
      "message",
      "message#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "Initialism of College of Medicine.",
        "Initialism of Command Module (“Apollo Command Module”)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "initialism",
        "uncountable",
        "US"
      ],
      "recordId": "d4ca14da7a3afb1b1a66824bf06283adbf4d328a0983079314bb6d1ae9c99816",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b9bd581cdb0ac341c7e05df3665c3a398d356f538d688068319ad5310369150b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 22735
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Initialism of chief minister.",
        "A member of the Order of Canada.",
        "Initialism of commercial message (“commercial video ad”).",
        "Initialism of Candidate Master."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "India",
        "Pakistan",
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "countable",
        "initialism",
        "uncountable",
        "Canada",
        "Japan"
      ],
      "recordId": "ea754c2e655eab6e3242e674570a86ed856061445ed983d457c246574ee5562a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "5524ef1a919e94c28112b6dd07398191be59b9cdb19fe98464595817e0bc9424",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 22734
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 8,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for CM →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Q00