WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025mer•chant /ˈmɜrtʃənt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
- Businessone whose business is buying and selling goods for profit.
- Businessa storekeeper;
retailer.
- one who indulges in something undesirable:the merchants of gloom and doom.
adj. [before a noun]
- Businessused for trade or commerce:a merchant ship.
See -merc-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025mer•chant
(mûr′chənt),USA pronunciation n.
- Businessa person who buys and sells commodities for profit;
dealer;
trader.
- Businessa storekeeper;
retailer:a local merchant who owns a store on Main Street.
- British Terms[Chiefly Brit.]a wholesaler.
adj.
- Businesspertaining to or used for trade or commerce:a merchant ship.
- Nauticalpertaining to the merchant marine.
- Metallurgy[Steelmaking.](of bars and ingots) of standard shape or size.
- Vulgar Latin *mercātant- (stem of *mercātāns), present participle of *mercātāre, frequentative of Latin mercārī to trade, derivative of merx goods
- Old French marcheant
- Middle English marchant 1250–1300
mer′chant•like′, adj.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
merchant / ˈmɜːtʃənt/ - a person engaged in the purchase and sale of commodities for profit, esp on international markets; trader
- a person engaged in retail trade
- (esp in historical contexts) any trader
- a person dealing or involved in something undesirable: a gossip merchant
- (modifier) of the merchant navy: a merchant sailor
- of or concerned with trade: a merchant ship
- (transitive) to conduct trade in; deal in
Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French, probably from Vulgar Latin mercātāre (unattested), from Latin mercārī to trade, from merx goods, wares
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Merchant / ˈmɜːtʃənt/ - Ismail ( ˈɪzmeɪəl ). 1936–2005, Indian film producer, noted for his collaboration with James Ivory on such films as Shakespeare Wallah (1965), The Europeans (1979), A Room with a View (1986), The Remains of the Day (1993), and The Golden Bowl (2000)