mercantile

English

Alternative forms

• merchantile (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from French mercantile, from Italian mercantile, from mercante (“merchant”), from Latin mercāns (“trading”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːkənˌtaɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝ.kənˌtaɪl/, /-ˌtil/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

mercantile (not comparable)

1. (economics) Concerned with the exchange of goods for profit.
   • 1872, [Thomas Hardy], “II. A Meeting of the Choir”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part II, page 139:

     No sign was over his door; in fact—as with old banks and mercantile houses—advertising in any shape was scorned, and it would have been felt as beneath his dignity to paint, for the benefit of strangers, the name of an establishment the trade of which came solely by connection based on personal respect.

2. (economics) Of or relating to mercantilism.

Related terms

• merchant

Translations

related to the exchange of goods for profit

• Bulgarian: търговски (tǎrgovski)
• Catalan: mercantil
• Dutch: handels-
• French: mercantile (fr)
• Galician: mercantil (gl)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐμπορικός (emporikós)

• Italian: mercantile (it)
• Latin: mercātōrius
• Latvian: tirdzniecisks, veikalniecisks
• Portuguese: mercantil (pt) m or f
• Spanish: mercantil (es)
• Turkish: ticari (tr)

Anagrams

• melitracen, nictemeral

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

mercantile (plural mercantiles)

1. mercantile, commercial

Descendants

• → Romanian: mercantil

Further reading

• “mercantile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From mercante +‎ -ile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mer.kanˈti.le/
• Rhymes: -ile
• Hyphenation: mer‧can‧tì‧le

Adjective

mercantile (plural mercantili)

1. (relational) merchant; mercantile, commercial

   Synonym: commerciale

   marina mercantile ― merchant navy

Derived terms

• mercantilismo
• mercantilmente

Noun

mercantile m (plural mercantili)

1. (nautical) merchant ship
2. (nautical) cargo vessel
3. (nautical) freighter
4. (nautical) merchantman

Further reading

• mercantile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana