The Etymology of Merino
Merino preserves the strangest fossil — a job title that became a sheep. In medieval Castile the merino was a royal officer who supervised the great seasonal migrations (mestas) of sheep between summer and winter pastures. The word descends from Late Latin maiorinus, a steward, ultimately from maior (greater). Because these officers were associated with the most prized flocks, the name slid from man to animal: by the 15th century merino meant the breed itself, famous for its impossibly fine, soft, crimped wool. The Spanish crown protected merinos jealously — exporting a live one was punishable by death — but in the late 1700s small flocks reached France, Saxony, and eventually Australia, where they became the foundation of a global wool industry. English picked up the word in 1781 and has used it for both sheep and fabric ever since.