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mercantile
5 dictionary results for: Mercantile
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
[mur-kuh
n-teel, -tahyl, -til] 
mer⋅can⋅tile
[mur-kuhn-teel, -tahyl, -til] –adjective
| 1. | of or pertaining to merchants or trade; commercial. |
| 2. | engaged in trade or commerce: a mercantile nation. |
| 3. | Economics. of or pertaining to the mercantile system. |
Origin:
1635–45; < F < It: pertaining to merchants, equiv. to mercant(e) merchant (< L mercant-, s. of mercāns buyer, n. use of prp. of mercārī to buy) + -ile -ile
1635–45; < F < It: pertaining to merchants, equiv. to mercant(e) merchant (< L mercant-, s. of mercāns buyer, n. use of prp. of mercārī to buy) + -ile -ile
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| mer·can·tile
(mûr'kən-tēl', -tīl', -tĭl) Pronunciation Key
adj.
[French, from Italian, from mercante, merchant, from Latin mercāns, mercant-, from present participle of mercārī, to trade, from merx, merc-, merchandise, goods.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
mercantile
mercantile
1642, via Fr., It., and M.L. mercantile, from L. mercantem (nom. mercans) "a merchant," also "trading," prp. of mercari "to trade," from merx (see market).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| mercantile | |
adjective | |
| 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" |
| 3. | relating to or characteristic of trade or traders; "the mercantile North was forging ahead"- Van Wyck Brooks |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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