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Webster 1913 Edition

Business

Busi′ness

(bĭz′nĕs)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Businesses
(bĭz′nĕs-ĕz)
.
[From
Busy
.]
1.
That which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation;
as, the
business
of life;
business
before pleasure
.
Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business
?
Luke ii. 49.
2.
Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a profession.
“The business of instruction.”
Prescott.
3.
Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in general; mercantile transactions.
It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge of
business
.
Bp. Popteus.
4.
That which one has to do or should do; special service, duty, or mission.
The daughter of the King of France,
On serious
business
, craving quick despatch,
Importunes personal conference.
Shakespeare
What
business
has the tortoise among the clouds?
L'Estrange.
5.
Affair; concern; matter; – used in an indefinite sense, and modified by the connected words.
It was a gentle
business
, and becoming
The action of good women.
Shakespeare
Bestow
Your needful counsel to our
business
.
Shakespeare
6.
(Drama)
The position, distribution, and order of persons and properties on the stage of a theater, as determined by the stage manager in rehearsal.
7.
Care; anxiety; diligence.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
To do one's business
,
to ruin one.
[Colloq.]
Wycherley.
–
To make (a thing) one's business
,
to occupy one's self with a thing as a special charge or duty.
[Colloq.]
–
To mean business
,
to be earnest.
[Colloq.]
Syn. – Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement; employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession; vocation; office; duty.

Webster 1828 Edition

Business

BUSINESS

,
Noun.
biz'ness. [See Busy.] Employment; that which occupies the time, attention and labor of men, for the purpose of profit or improvement--a word of extensive use and indefinite signification. Business is a particular occupation, as agriculture, trade, mechanic art, or profession, and when used of a particular employment, the word admits of the plural number, businesses. Business is also any temporary employment.
1.
Affairs; concerns; as, a man leaves his business in an unsettled state.
2.
The subject of employment; that which engages the care and attention.
You are so much the business of our souls.
3.
Serious engagement; important occupation,in distinction from trivial affairs.
It should be the main business of life to serve God, and obey his commands.
4.
Concern; right of action or interposing.
'What business has a man with the disputes of others?'
5.
A point; a matter of question; something to be examined or considered.
Fitness to govern is a perplexed business.
6.
Something to be done; employment of importance to one's interest, opposed to amusement; as, we have no business in town.
They were far from the Zidonians and had no business with any one.
7.
Duty, or employment that duty enjoins. A lawyer's business is to do justice to his clients.
To do the business for a man, is to kill, destroy or ruin him.

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