commodity

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Pronunciation 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• commoditie (archaic)

[edit] Etymology

Middle English commoditee < Anglo-Norman commoditee, from Latin commoditat, commoditas.

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈmɑːdəti/, SAMPA: /k@"mA:d@ti/

[edit] Noun

commodity (plural commodities)

1. Anything movable (a good) that is bought and sold.
   • 1995, James G. Carrier, Gifts and Commodities: Exchange and Western Capitalism Since 1700, p.122[[1]]

     If a key part of shopping is the conversion of anonymous commodities into possessions, shopping is a cultural as much as an economic activity.

   • 2001, Rachel Pain, Introducing Social Geographies, p. 26 [[2]]

     In human geography "commodities" usually refers to goods and services which are bought and sold. The simplest commodities are those produced by the production system just before they are sold.

   • 2005, William Leiss, Botterill, Jacki, Social Communication in Advertising: Consumption in the Mediated Marketplace, p.307 [[3]]

     • Referring to the work of Bourdieu, Zukin (2004,38) notes that shopping is much more than the purchase of commodities

2. Something useful or valuable.

   And Slade said: "It really makes me sad that football club chairmen and boards seem to have lost that most precious commodity - patience. "Sam's sacking at Newcastle had, I suppose, been on the cards for a while, but it is really ridiculous to fire a manager after such a short time. Somerset County Gazette on Jan. 14th, 2008.

3. (economics) Raw materials, agricultural products and other primary products as objects of large scale trading in specialized exchanges.

   The price of crude oil is determined in continuous trading between professional players in World's many commodities exchanges.

4. (marketing) Undifferentiated goods characterized by a low profit margin, as distinguished from branded products.

   Although they were once in the forefront of consumer electronics, the calculators have become a mere commodity.

[edit] Translations