business O.E. bisignes (Northumbrian) "care, anxiety, occupation," from bisig "careful, anxious, busy, occupied, diligent" (see busy) + -ness. Sense of "work, occupation" is first recorded late 14c. Sense of "trade, commercial engagements" is first attested 1727. Modern two-syllable pronunciation is 17c. Business card first attested 1840; business letter from 1766. businessman 1826, from business + man. Man of business is recorded from 1660s. negotiation (n.) early 15c., from O.Fr. negociacion "business, trade," and directly from L. negotiationem (nom. negotiatio) "business, traffic," noun of action from pp. stem of negotiari "carry on business, do business, act as a banker," from negotium "a business, employment, occupation, affair (public or private)," also "difficulty, pains, trouble, labor," lit. "lack of leisure," from neg- "not" (see deny) + otium "ease, leisure." The sense expansion from "doing business" to also include "bargaining" about anything took place in Latin. pragmatic (adj.) 1540s, from M.Fr. pragmatique, from L. pragmaticus "skilled in business or law," from Gk. pragmatikos "versed in business," from pragma (gen. pragmatos) "civil business, deed, act," from prassein "to do, act, perform." firm (n.) "business house," 1744, from Ger. Firma "a business, name of a business," originally "signature," from It. firma "signature," from firmare "to sign," from L. firmare "make firm, affirm," in L.L. "confirm (by signature)," from firmus "firm, stable" (see firm (adj.)). receptionist (n.) "person hired to receive clients in an office," 1900, from reception + -ist. Originally in photography studios. Let me not forget the receptionist -- generally and preferably, a woman of refined and gentle manners, well informed and specially gifted in handling people of varied dispositions. A woman especially who knows how to handle other women, and who can make herself beloved by the children who may visit the studio. A woman, also, who in a thoroughly suave and dignified way, knows just how to handle the young man of the period so that the photographer may be glad to have his business. What a power the receptionist is when properly chosen and trained. It is not too much to say that she can both make and destroy a business, if she has the amount of discretionary power given to her in some galleries. [John A. Tennant, "Business Methods Applied in Photography," "Wilson's Photographic Magazine," October 1900] Earlier as an adjective in theology and law (1867). occupation (n.) early 14c., "fact of holding or possessing;" mid-14c., "a being employed in something," also "a particular action," from O.Fr. occupacion (12c.), from L. occupationem (nom. occupatio) "a taking possession, business, employment," from pp. stem of from occupare (see occupy). Meaning "employment, business in which one engages" is late 14c. income c.1300, "entrance, arrival," lit. "what enters," perhaps a noun use of the late O.E. verb incuman "come in," from in (adv.) + cuman "to come" (see come). Meaning "money made through business or labor" (i.e., "that which 'comes in' as a product of work or business") first recorded c.1600. Income tax is from 1799, first introduced in Britain as a war tax, re-introduced 1842; authorized on a national level in U.S. in 1913.
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