Advertisement
mercantile (adj.)
"of or pertaining to merchants, trade, or commerce," 1640s, from French mercantile (17c.), from Italian mercantile, from Medieval Latin mercantile, from Latin mercantem (nominative mercans) "a merchant," also "trading," present participle of mercari "to trade," from merx "wares, merchandise" (see market (n.)). Mercantile system first appears in Adam Smith (1776).
Mercantile system, in polit. econ., the belief generally held till the end of the last century, that all wealth consists in gold and silver, and that therefore the exportation of goods and importation of gold should be encouraged by the state, while the importation of goods and the exportation of gold should be forbidden, or at least restricted as much as possible. [Century Dictionary, 1895]
updated on December 27, 2018
Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of mercantile from WordNet
Dictionary entries near mercantile
Mephisto
Mephistopheles
mephitic
*mer-
Mercalli
mercantile
mercantilism
Mercator
Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
mercenary