Adjacent Words

Mercantile definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MER'CANTILE, a. [L. mercans, mercor, to buy.]
1. Trading; commercial; carrying on commerce; as mercantile nations; the mercantile class of men.
2. Pertaining or relating to commerce or trade; as mercantile business.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of or relating to the economic system of mercantilism; "mercantile theories"; "mercantile system"
2: profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business" [syn: mercantile, mercenary, moneymaking]
3: relating to or characteristic of trade or traders; "the mercantile North was forging ahead"- Van Wyck Brooks

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: French, from Italian, from mercante merchant, from Latin mercant-, mercans, from present participle of mercari to trade — more at market Date: 1642 1. of or relating to merchants or trading 2. of, relating to, or having the characteristics of mercantilism <mercantile system>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 of trade, trading. 2 commercial. 3 mercenary, fond of bargaining. Phrases and idioms: mercantile marine shipping employed in commerce not war. Etymology: F f. It. f. mercante MERCHANT

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mercantile Mer"can*tile (?; 277), a. [F. mercantile, It. mercantile, fr. L. mercans, -antis, p. pr. of mercari to traffic. See Merchant.] Of or pertaining to merchants, or the business of merchants; having to do with trade, or the buying and selling of commodities; commercial. The expedition of the Argonauts was partly mercantile, partly military. --Arbuthnot. Mercantile agency, an agency for procuring information of the standing and credit of merchants in different parts of the country, for the use of dealers who sell to them. Mercantile marine, the persons and vessels employed in commerce, taken collectively. Mercantile paper, the notes or acceptances given by merchants for goods bought, or received on consignment; drafts on merchants for goods sold or consigned. --McElrath. Syn: Mercantile, Commercial. Usage: Commercial is the wider term, being sometimes used to embrace mercantile. In their stricter use, commercial relates to the shipping, freighting, forwarding, and other business connected with the commerce of a country (whether external or internal), that is, the exchange of commodities; while mercantile applies to the sale of merchandise and goods when brought to market. As the two employments are to some extent intermingled, the two words are often interchanged.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Mercantile means relating to or involved in trade. (FORMAL) ...the emergence of a new mercantile class. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Commercial, trading.