ENGLISH
REFERENCE

mercantile

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˈmɝkənˌtaɪɫ// UK //mˈɜːkɑːntˌaɪl// mer·can·tile Economics
Definition

adj. relating to trade, business, or the work of merchants.

adj. relating to merchants or trading activity. Often used to describe historical systems or the commercial character of a city or era.


SIMPLE

The city has a long mercantile history.

CONTEXTUAL

The port grew into a powerful mercantile center where goods from across the ocean were traded daily.

COMPLEX

The shift from agrarian to mercantile economies in the late Middle Ages facilitated the rise of a wealthy middle class that challenged traditional feudal structures.

Origin

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

Usage

Typically used attributively before a noun like 'system', 'interest', or 'power'.

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