merchant
a person who buys and sells commodities for profit; dealer; trader.
a storekeeper; retailer: a local merchant who owns a store on Main Street.
Chiefly British. a wholesaler.
pertaining to or used for trade or commerce: a merchant ship.
pertaining to the merchant marine.
Steelmaking. (of bars and ingots) of standard shape or size.
Origin of merchant
1Other words from merchant
- mer·chant·like, adjective
- outmerchant, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use merchant in a sentence
Outnumbered five to one in Britain, Scots made up 60 percent of the merchants in Bengal, Calcutta and Madras.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality | Noah Caldwell | September 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOthers, notably large merchants, bought political influence and marriage into old families.
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class | Joel Kotkin | August 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDoes campaigning for others who are actual merchants have to itself meet their criteria?
The camp has a market street where merchants set up shop and sell their goods, mostly small food items and sweets.
Millions of Refugees from Syria’s War Are Clinging to Life In Toxic Conditions | Christopher Looney | April 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe yakuza were traditionally federations of gamblers (bakuto) and street merchants (tekiya).
Where Have Japan’s Yakuza Gone? | Jake Adelstein, Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky | March 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
All the Italian merchants in the realm of France, called money lenders, seized by order of Philip the fair, for their ransoms.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellGrain merchants and vegetable dealers jostled each other in the streets themselves.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeBe silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThe merchants' agreements were, for whatever reason, much better observed in some places than in others.
The Eve of the Revolution | Carl BeckerIn spite of these defections, the experiment was not without effect upon English merchants.
The Eve of the Revolution | Carl Becker
British Dictionary definitions for merchant (1 of 2)
/ (ˈmɜːtʃənt) /
a person engaged in the purchase and sale of commodities for profit, esp on international markets; trader
mainly US and Canadian a person engaged in retail trade
(esp in historical contexts) any trader
derogatory a person dealing or involved in something undesirable: a gossip merchant
(modifier)
of the merchant navy: a merchant sailor
of or concerned with trade: a merchant ship
(tr) to conduct trade in; deal in
Origin of merchant
1Derived forms of merchant
- merchant-like, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Merchant (2 of 2)
/ (ˈmɜːtʃənt) /
Ismail (ˈɪzmeɪəl). 1936–2005, Indian film producer, noted for his collaboration with James Ivory on such films as Shakespeare Wallah (1965), The Europeans (1979), A Room with a View (1986), The Remains of the Day (1993), and The Golden Bowl (2000)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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