merchant

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• merchaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English marchant, from Anglo-Norman marchant, from Latin mercans (“a buyer”), present participle of mercor (“trade, traffic, buy”), from merx (“merchandise, traffic”), from merere (“to gain, buy, purchase, also deserve, merit”); see mercy and merit.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɜː(ɹ)tʃənt/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃənt

Noun

merchant (plural merchants)

1. A person who traffics in commodities for profit.
2. The owner or operator of a retail business.
3. A trading vessel; a merchantman.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Derived terms

merchantable merchant bank merchant banker merchant flag merchantman merchant marine mercantile

merchant navy merchant prince merchant seaman merchant ship merchant tailor wine merchant

Related terms

• merchandise
• commerce

Translations

person who traffics in commodities

• Arabic: تاجر (ar) (tājir) m

  Egyptian Arabic: تاجر (tager) m

• Catalan: mercader (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 商人 (cmn) (shāngrén)

• Czech: kupec (cs) m, obchodník (cs) m
• Danish: købmand (da) c
• Dutch: koopman (nl) m
• Finnish: kauppias (fi)
• French: marchand (fr) m
• German: Kaufmann (de) m, Kauffrau (de) f
• Greek: έμπορος (el) (émboros) m , έμπορας (el) (émboras) m , εμπορευόμενος (el) (emborevómenos) m 
• Hungarian: kereskedő (hu)
• Italian: mercante (it) m, commerciante (it)
• Japanese: 商人 (ja) (しょうにん, shōnin)
• Korean: 상인 (ko) (sang-in) (商人 (ko))

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بازرگان (ku) (bazirgan)

• Latin: mercator (la), negotiator (la)
• Macedonian: трговец (mk) (t'rgovets) m
• Maltese: merkantier m, merkantiera f, tas-suq m
• Nahuatl: oztomecatl
• Norwegian: farmann (no)
• Persian: تاجر (fa) (tâjer), بازرگان (fa) (bâzargân)
• Polish: kupiec (pl) m
• Portuguese: comerciante (pt) m, mercador (pt)
• Romanian: negustor (ro), comerciant (ro)
• Russian: торговец (ru) (torgóvec) m , купец (ru) (kupéc) m  (obsolete)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceannaiche m, màlair m, marsal m, malairtiche m
• Slovak: kupec (sk) m
• Spanish: comerciante (es) m, mercader (es) f
• Swedish: köpman (sv) c
• Telugu: వ్యాపారి (vyaapaari)

the owner or operator of a retail business

• Italian: commerciante (it), negoziante (it)
• Macedonian: дуќанџија (mk) (duḱándžija) m

• Scottish Gaelic: ceannaiche (gd) m
• Swedish: köpman (sv) c, handelsman (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: vendisto

• Volapük: tedel

Verb

merchant (third-person singular simple present merchants, present participle merchanting, simple past and past participle merchanted)

1. As a resident of a region, to buy goods from a non-resident and sell them to another non-resident.

   a merchanting service

External links

• merchant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• merchant in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• “merchant” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.