commerce

English

Wikipedia Wikipedia

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

From Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium (“commerce, trade”), from com- (“together”) + merx (“good, wares, merchandise”); see merchant, mercenary

Pronunciation

• IPA:
  • US: /ˈkɑ.mɝs/
  • UK: /ˈkɒ.mɜs/ (Formerly accented on the second syllable.)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

commerce (uncountable)

1. (business) The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.
2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.
   • Macaulay:

     Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser.

3. Sexual intercourse.
4. A round game at cards, in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade.

Synonyms

• trade, traffic, dealings, intercourse, interchange, communion, communication
• See also Wikisaurus:sexual intercourse

Derived terms

• chamber of commerce
• commercial

Translations

large scale trade

• Arabic: تجارة (ar) (tijaara) f
• Bulgarian: търговия (bg) (tǎrgovija) f
• Catalan: comerç (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貿易 (cmn), 贸易 (cmn) (màoyì), 交易 (cmn) (jiāoyì), 商業 (cmn), 商业 (cmn) (shāngyè)

• Czech: obchod (cs) m
• Dutch: handel (nl) m, commercie (nl) f
• Esperanto: komerco (eo)
• Finnish: kauppa (fi), kaupankäynti (fi)
• French: commerce (fr) m
• German: Handel (de) m, Kommerz (de) f
• Hebrew: סחר (he) (sakhar) m, מסחר (he) (miskhar) m
• Hindi: व्यापार (hi) (vyāpār) m, तिजारत (hi) (tijārat) f
• Japanese: 貿易 (ja) (ぼうえき, bōeki), 交易 (ja) (こうえき, kōeki), 商業 (ja) (しょうぎょう, shōgyō)

• Korean: 무역 (ko) (muyeok) (貿易 (ko)), 교역 (ko) (gyoyeok) (交易 (ko)), 상업 (ko) (sangeop) (商業 (ko))
• Manx: cochionneeaght (gv) f
• Persian: تجارت (fa) (tejârat)
• Polish: handel (pl) m
• Portuguese: comércio (pt)
• Russian: торговля (ru) (torgóvlja) f, коммерция (ru) (kommércija) f
• Spanish: comercio (es) m
• Swedish: handel (sv) c
• Thai: พาณิชย์ (th) (paa-nít), ธุรกิจ (th) (tú-rá-gìt), การค้า (th) (gaan-káa)
• Urdu: تجارت (ur) (tijārat) f
• Vietnamese: sự buôn bán (vi), thương mại (vi), thương nghiệp (vi)

social interaction

• Bulgarian: общуване (bg) (obštuvane) n
• Catalan: comerç (ca) m

• Finnish: vuorovaikutus, sosiaalinen kanssakäyminen
• Russian: общение (ru) (obščénije) n

coitus

• Bulgarian: сношение (bg) (snošenie) n
• French: rapports (fr) m pl

• Russian: сношение (ru) (snošénije) n

term in cards

• Bulgarian: наддаване (bg) (naddavane) n

• Catalan: comerç (ca) m

Verb

commerce (third-person singular simple present commerces, present participle commercing, simple past and past participle commerced)

1. (dated) To carry on trade; to traffic.

   Beware you commerce not with bankrupts. -B. Jonson.

2. (dated) To hold intercourse; to commune.

   Commercing with himself. -Tennyson.

   Musicians ... taught the people in angelic harmonies to commerce with heaven. -Prof. Wilson.

External links

• commerce in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• commerce in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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French

Etymology

From Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium (“commerce, trade”), from com- (“together”) + merx (“good, wares, merchandise”); see merchant, mercenary.

Pronunciation

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

Noun

commerce m (plural commerces)

1. commerce, trade
2. store, shop, trader

Derived terms

• commercial