Adjacent Words

Merchandise definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MER'CHANDISE, n.
1. The objects of commerce; wares, goods, commodities, whatever is usually bought or sold in trade. But provisions daily sold in market, horses, cattle, and fuel are not usually included in the term,and real estate never.
2. Trade; traffick; commerce.
MER'CHANDISE, v.i. To trade; to carry on commerce.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: commodities offered for sale; "good business depends on having good merchandise"; "that store offers a variety of products" [syn: merchandise, ware, product] v
1: engage in the trade of; "he is merchandising telephone sets" [syn: trade, merchandise]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English marchaundise, from Anglo-French marchandise, from marcheant Date: 13th century 1. archaic the occupation of a merchant ; trade 2. the commodities or goods that are bought and sold in business ; wares II. verb also merchandize (-dised; also -dized; -dising; also -dizing) Date: 14th century intransitive verb archaic to carry on commerce ; trade transitive verb 1. to buy and sell in business 2. to promote for or as if for sale <merchandise a movie star> • merchandiser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. goods for sale. --v. 1 intr. trade, traffic. 2 tr. trade or traffic in. 3 tr. a put on the market, promote the sale of (goods etc.). b advertise, publicize (an idea or person). Derivatives: merchandisable adj. merchandiser n. Etymology: ME f. OF marchandise f. marchand: see MERCHANT

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merchandise Mer"chan*dise, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Merchandised; p. pr. & vb. n. Merchandising.] To trade; to carry on commerce. --Bacon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merchandise Mer"chan*dise, v. t. To make merchandise of; to buy and sell. ``Love is merchandised.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Merchandise Mer"chan*dise, n. [F. marchandise, OF. marcheandise.] 1. The objects of commerce; whatever is usually bought or sold in trade, or market, or by merchants; wares; goods; commodities. --Spenser. 2. The act or business of trading; trade; traffic.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Merchandise is goods that are bought, sold, or traded. (FORMAL)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mur'-chan-diz

(1) `amar

(2) cachar,

(3) cachar,

(4) cechorach,

(5) rekhullah,

(6) ma`arabh,

(7) markoleth;

(8) emporia

(9) emporion,

(10) gomos)

: There seem to be 4 distinct meanings of the word according to the Revised Version (British and American), namely: (1) The products, i.e. goods or things sold or exchanged, and so merchandise in the present-day usage:

(a) cachar is translated thus in Pr 31:18; Isa 23:18;

(b) cachar is translated thus in Isa 45:14; these two are from a root meaning "to travel around as a peddler";

(c) rekhullah, translated thus in Eze 26:12, from a root meaning "to travel for trading purposes";

(d) ma`arabh, translated thus in Eze 27:9,27,33,34, from a root meaning "to intermix, to barter";

(e) markoleth, translated thus in Eze 27:24 (the above 5 Hebrew words are all used to designate the goods or wares which were bartered);

(f) `amar, occurring in De 21:14; 24:7, translated in the King James Version "make merchandise of," but in the Revised Version (British and American) "deal with as a slave," or the Revised Version margin "deal with as a chattel";

(g) emporia, translated "merchandise" in Mt 22:5;

(h) emporion, likewise in Joh 2:16 (the same Greek word is used in 2Pe 2:3 for the American Standard Revised Version "make merchandise of you");

(i) gomos, "merchandise," margin "cargo."

(2) The process of trade itself, i.e. the business: rekhullah has in it the root meaning of "itinerant trading", and so in Eze 28:16 the correct translation is not "merchandise," as in the King James Version, but "traffic," "abundance of thy traffic," i.e. doing a thriving business: "trade was good."

(3) The place of trading, i.e. emporium, mart, etc.: cechorah in Eze 27:15 is translated "mart." In Joh 2:16 reference is made to the "house of merchandise."

(4) The profits of trading: In Pr 3:14, cachar is translated "gaining." Referring to wisdom, "For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit thereof than fine gold"; the King James Version "merchandise."

William Edward Raffety

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Commodities, goods, wares.

Moby Thesaurus

advertise, be in, buy and sell, carry, close out, commodities, convert into cash, cut under, deal in, distribute, dump, effect a sale, effects, goods, handle, job, job lot, line, make a sale, market, move, produce, products, promote, provender, provisions, publicize, resell, retail, sacrifice, sell, sell off, sell on consignment, sell out, sell over, sell retail, sell short, sell up, sell wholesale, staples, stock, supplies, trade, trade in, traffic in, turn into money, turn over, undercut, undersell, unload, vendibles, wares, wholesale