mercantile
4
6.7
- adjective
- /ˈmɜr.kən.taɪl/
:
comercial
- The museum showcases artifacts from a mercantile era, illustrating the importance of commerce in historical society.
- mercantile interests
- mercantile capitalism
- mercantile pursuits
They have a pretty far-flung social and mercantile network.
- They have a pretty far-flung social and mercantile network.
- And those Jews who started out with the push carts started the mercantile empires.
Examples
-
The town thrived due to its mercantile activities, attracting traders from all over the region.
-
American merchants in China tell us that in mercantile honesty they are equal to any other nationality.
Academic text (2003) -
You have a mercantile heritage.
-
There was a small inn and a mercantile store.
Fiction book (2002) -
They own the mercantile store.
-
Bremen is a lively mercantile town, and you can buy food cheaper than most people think.
Academic text (1993) -
They have a pretty far-flung social and mercantile network.
-
Just beyond the narrow, stone-paved streets of the city's mercantile district was a small residential neighborhood.
Fiction book (1991) -
For example, mercantile capital in the Chesapeake transformed that region by linking resident planters with foreign markets.
Academic text (2004) -
She studied the mercantile laws to better understand how trade regulations affected local businesses.
Synonyms
601
3.7
Made to earn money rather than for art
Supporting trade and government rules to make a country richer
Likely to earn money
Antonyms
Compounds
A company that gives businesses information about other companies' ability to pay bills
- Formal
Law that deals with buying and selling between businesses and rules for trade
- Formal
A policy that makes a country richer by controlling trade and keeping gold and silver
Surface Forms
Morphology
mercantile = merchant (semi-transparent) = mercant + ile
The relation to 'merchant' is clear (relating to trade), but orthographic change and the less common adjective-forming suffix '-ile' make it slightly less immediately obvious to an average B1 learner.
Etymology
Mercantile comes from the Latin verb mercari, which means 'to trade', and is like the English word merchant. Think of markets and sellers making money, so mercantile describes things connected with trade or business.