Meaning & use
merchant
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Meanings
nouncountable
Someone whose job is buying and selling goods, especially in large amounts or with other countries.
Grammar: Often with a product word: wine merchant.
Patterns
- a merchant of something
- a merchant in something
The merchant sailed to distant ports to sell silk.
A wine merchant delivered cases to the hotel.
Her grandfather was a grain merchant in the city.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A person who deals in something unpleasant or undesirable, often used with another noun.
Grammar: Informal and critical: a merchant of doom.
Patterns
- a merchant of something
- a speed merchant
He was labeled a merchant of fear by his critics.
Some news channels act like merchants of doom.
The winger is a real speed merchant.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to trade or to commercial ships and sailors.
Grammar: Appears only before a noun: merchant ship.
Patterns
- merchant ship
- merchant navy
He served in the merchant navy for ten years.
A merchant ship carried the cargo across the ocean.
Merchant banks financed early overseas trade.
Word forms
| plural | merchants |
|---|
Common combinations
- wine merchant
- The wine merchant recommended a good red.
- merchant ship
- A merchant ship docked at dawn.
- merchant navy
- His father served in the merchant navy.
- merchant bank
- The merchant bank advised on the takeover.
- merchant of death
- The press called him a merchant of death for selling weapons.
- street merchant
- A street merchant sold scarves near the station.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trader
- Trader is a broader, plainer word for anyone who buys and sells, even in small amounts.
- dealer
- Dealer stresses dealing in a specific type of item, sometimes with a shady tone.
- vendor
- Vendor usually means a seller in a stall or street, smaller in scale than a merchant.
- retailer
- Retailer sells directly to the public, while a merchant may sell wholesale or overseas.
Opposites
Word family
- merchandise noun
- goods for sale
- merchandise verb
- to promote goods
- mercantile adjective
- relating to trade
- commerce noun
- the buying and selling of goods
- merchandising noun
- promotion of goods
Commonly confused: merchant or merchandise?
merchant vs merchandise
Merchandise is the goods that are sold, while a merchant is the person who sells them.
Practice
The ___ sailed across the sea to sell spices in distant markets.
Choose one answer.
A merchant buys and sells goods, often overseas. A customer buys goods but does not sail to sell them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “merchant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.