merchant
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See also: Merchant
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English marchaunt, from Anglo-Norman marchaunt, from mercans, from the verb mercor (“I trade, deal, sell”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɝt͡ʃənt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɜːtʃənt/
- Hyphenation: mer‧chant
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃənt
Noun
merchant (plural merchants)
- A person who traffics in commodities for profit.
- Synonym: trader
- The owner or operator of a retail business.
- A trading vessel; a merchantman.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , line 5:
- Every day, some sailor's wife, / The masters of some merchant, and the merchant, / Have just our theme of woe.
- (informal, sometimes derogatory) Someone who is noted for a stated type of activity or behaviour.
- He's some kind of speed merchant — he drives way too fast.
- Goal merchant Smith scored twice again in the match against Mudchester Rovers.
- (obsolete) A supercargo.
Derived terms
- caper merchant
- coal merchant
- country merchant
- dole merchant
- fanny merchant
- feather merchant
- hop merchant
- knockout merchant
- law merchant
- merchantable
- merchant bank
- merchant banker
- merchant flag
- merchant fleet
- merchantman
- merchant marine
- merchant mariner
- merchant navy
- merchant of death
- merchant prince
- merchant seaman
- merchant ship
- merchant tailor
- merchant venturer
- rip-off merchant
- scrap merchant
- sleaze-merchant
- speed merchant
- spin merchant
- timber merchant
- Turkey merchant
- wind-up merchant
- wine merchant
Related terms
Translations
person who traffics in commodities
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the owner or operator of a retail business
|
trading vessel — see cargo ship
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
merchant (third-person singular simple present merchants, present participle merchanting, simple past and past participle merchanted)
- As a resident of a region, to buy goods from a non-resident and sell them to another non-resident.
- a merchanting service
Further reading
- “merchant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “merchant”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “merchant” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.