Meaning & use
transatlantic trade
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
the buying and selling of goods between countries on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun: transatlantic trade grew, not transatlantic trades.
Patterns
- transatlantic trade between A and B
- transatlantic trade in something
Transatlantic trade between Europe and the Americas expanded rapidly in the 1700s.
The port became a center for transatlantic trade in sugar and tobacco.
New shipping routes made transatlantic trade cheaper and faster.
noununcountable
the historical system of shipping goods, including enslaved people, across the Atlantic
Grammar: Often used in history writing, sometimes with 'the': the transatlantic trade.
Patterns
- the transatlantic trade
The transatlantic trade had a devastating effect on communities in West Africa.
Historians study the transatlantic trade to understand early global commerce.
Common combinations
- transatlantic trade routes
- Ships followed well-known transatlantic trade routes.
- expand transatlantic trade
- The two governments agreed to expand transatlantic trade.
- transatlantic trade agreement
- Negotiators discussed a new transatlantic trade agreement.
- the transatlantic slave trade
- The transatlantic slave trade forcibly moved millions of people.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Atlantic trade
- A shorter, less formal way to refer to the same exchange across the Atlantic.
- overseas trade
- Broader: it means trade with any foreign country reached by sea, not only across the Atlantic.
Word family
- transatlantic adjective
- Crossing or relating to the Atlantic Ocean.
- trade noun
- The activity of buying and selling goods and services.
Commonly confused: transatlantic trade or transpacific?
transatlantic trade vs transpacific
Transpacific means across the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'transatlantic trade' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Transatlantic trade is commerce across the Atlantic; option 1 describes the Pacific, option 2 is about weather, and option 3 is domestic trade only.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “transatlantic trade”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.