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merchant prince. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
merchant prince, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
merchant prince in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
merchant prince you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Under the influence of Isaiah 23:8, describing "Tyre... whose merchants are princes..."[1]
Noun
merchant prince (plural merchant princes)
- (historical or figurative) A mercantile plutocrat: a man who wields great de facto political power by virtue of economic assets derived from trade and commerce.
1760, The Modern Part of an Universal History, Vol. XVI, Bk. xvii, Ch. vii, p. 466:The customs and duties paid by each ship, great or small, amount in the whole to 70 or 80 slaves. The king [sc. of Ardrah] has the first choice of goods, whether in the payment of duties, or in exchange for slaves; the hereditary prince the second, the merchant prince the third, the Marbut the fourth, and afterwards the great officers of the court.
- 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation, Pt. V: “The Merchant Princes”, Ch. 18, p. 189:
- “...you’re establishing a plutocracy. You’re making us a land of traders and merchant princes. Then what of the future?”
- (figurative) A prince among merchants: a wealthy and influential merchant.
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