TRAFFIC  , properly the interchange or passing of goods or merchandise between persons, communities or countries,

commerce or trade . The term in current usage is chiefly applied collectively to the goods, passengers, vehicles and vessels passing to and fro over the streets, roads, sea, rivers, canals, railways, &c . The origin of the word is obscure . It occurs in Fr. trafique, and trafiquer, Ital. traffico, trafficare, Sp. trafago, trafagar . Du Cange (Gloss . Med. et Inf . Lat.) quotes the use of traffigare from a treaty between Milan and Venice of 138o, and gives other variants of the word in medieval Latin . There is a medieval Latin word transfegator, an explorer, spy, investigator (see Du Cange, op. cit., s.v.) which occurs as early as 1243, and is stated to be from transfegare, a corruption of transfretare, to cross over the sea (trans, across, fretum, gulf, strait, channel) . Diez (Etymologisches Worterbuch der romanischen Sprachen) connects the word with Port. lrasfegar, to decant, which he traces to Late Lat. vicare, to exchange, Lat. vicis, change, turn . A suggestion (Athenaeum, app . 7, 1900) has been made that it is to he referred to a late Hebrew corruption (traffik) of Gr. rpoira.e6c, pertaining to a trophy, applied to a silver coin with the figure of victory upon it and termed in Latin vi.ctoriatus .