Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Mercantile

Mer′can-tile

(?; 277)
,
Adj.
[F.
mercantile
, It.
mercantile
, fr. L.
mercans
,
-antis
, p. pr. of
mercari
to traffic. See
Merchant
.]
Of or pertaining to merchants, or the business of merchants; having to do with trade, or the buying and selling of commodities; commercial.
The expedition of the Argonauts was partly
mercantile
, partly military.
Arbuthnot.
Mercantile agency
,
an agency for procuring information of the standing and credit of merchants in different parts of the country, for the use of dealers who sell to them.
Mercantile marine
,
the persons and vessels employed in commerce, taken collectively.
Mercantile paper
,
the notes or acceptances given by merchants for goods bought, or received on consignment; drafts on merchants for goods sold or consigned.
McElrath.
Syn.
Mercantile
,
Commercial
.
Commercial is the wider term, being sometimes used to embrace mercantile. In their stricter use, commercial relates to the shipping, freighting, forwarding, and other business connected with the commerce of a country (whether external or internal), that is, the exchange of commodities; while mercantile applies to the sale of merchandise and goods when brought to market. As the two employments are to some extent intermingled, the two words are often interchanged.

Webster 1828 Edition


Mercantile

MER'CANTILE

,
Adj.
[L. mercans, mercor, to buy.]
1.
Trading; commercial; carrying on commerce; as mercantile nations; the mercantile class of men.
2.
Pertaining or relating to commerce or trade; as mercantile business.

Definition 2024


mercantile

mercantile

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

mercantile (not comparable)

  1. (economics) Concerned with the exchange of goods for profit

Translations


French

Adjective

mercantile m, f (plural mercantiles)

  1. mercantile, commercial

Italian

Adjective

mercantile m, f (masculine and feminine plural mercantili)

  1. merchant (attribute), mercantile, commercial
    marina mercantile - merchant navy

Synonyms

Related terms

Noun

mercantile m (plural mercantili)

  1. merchant ship