merchant

mer·chant   (mûr'chənt)    n.   One whose occupation is the wholesale purchase and retail sale of goods for profit. One who runs a retail business; a shopkeeper. adj.   Of or relating to merchants, merchandise, or commercial trade: a merchant guild. Of or relating to the merchant marine: merchant ships. [Middle English merchaunt, from Old French marcheant, from Vulgar Latin *mercātāns, present participle of *mercātāre, frequentative of Latin mercārī, to trade, from merx, merc-, merchandise.]

merchant 

Main Entry: mer·chant
Pronunciation: 'm&r-ch&nt
Function: noun
: a person who trades in goods esp. of a certain kind and possesses expertise in the area of the goods and the practices of trading in them or who employs others with such expertise merchant with respect to goods of that kind —Uniform Commercial Code>

Merchant

The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning "to travel about," "to migrate," and hence "a traveller." In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place to place (Gen. 37:25; Job 6:18), and carried on their trade mainly by bartering (Gen. 37:28; 39:1). After the Hebrews became settled in Palestine they began to engage in commercial pursuits, which gradually expanded (49:13; Deut. 33:18; Judg. 5:17), till in the time of Solomon they are found in the chief marts of the world (1 Kings 9:26; 10:11, 26, 28; 22:48; 2 Chr. 1:16; 9:10, 21). After Solomon's time their trade with foreign nations began to decline. After the Exile it again expanded into wider foreign relations, because now the Jews were scattered in many lands.