salt merchant
- noun
- /sɔlt ˈmɜrʧənt/
:
comerciante de sal
- The salt merchant imported large quantities of salt from distant coastal towns.
Examples
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During the Middle Ages, the salt merchant was an influential figure in the local economy.
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As a successful salt merchant, he opened shops in several major cities.
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The salt merchant sold high-quality sea salt.
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In ancient times, a salt merchant was very important.
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My grandfather was a well-known salt merchant who supplied local restaurants with high-quality sea salt.
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In the 18th century, a salt merchant played a crucial role in the economy of coastal towns.
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The salt merchant traded various types of salt, including rock salt and sea salt, to meet the demands of their customers.
Synonyms
279
2.1
A person or company that buys and sells things to make money
257
1.0
A person or company that offers goods for money
203
2.1
A person or company that buys and sells goods, often in shops
3
4.5
A person or company that buys and sells goods in shops
1
3.7
A person who runs a shop that sells goods or services
A person who makes or sells salt
A person or company that buys, sells, and moves goods
A person or company that sells goods to people in small amounts for them to use
A person who buys and sells goods in a shop or market
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'salt' (the substance) + 'merchant' (a person engaged in trade), i.e. a person who trades or deals in salt. This is a regular noun+noun compound pattern common cross-linguistically and follows standard English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Salt merchant comes from old trading times when people carried heavy sacks of salt along long roads and sold them in towns, so a merchant who sold salt was an important trader. Because salt was needed to keep food from going bad, the name stuck and now means 'a person who makes or trades in salt'.