a person who buys and sells commodities for profit; dealer; trader.
a storekeeper; retailer.
a local merchant who owns a store on Main Street.
Chiefly British. a wholesaler.
pertaining to or used for trade or commerce.
a merchant ship.
pertaining to the merchant marine.
Steelmaking. (of bars and ingots) of standard shape or size.
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
derogatory 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
1250–1300; Middle English marchant < Old French marcheant < Vulgar Latin *mercātant- (stem of *mercātāns ), present participle of *mercātāre, frequentative of Latin mercārī to trade, derivative of merx goods
A merchant is someone who works in or owns a retail business and sells goods. In Paris you can stroll from merchant to merchant, buying a loaf of bread in one shop and a wedge of cheese in another. The noun merchant has its Latin roots in the word merchari, meaning to trade. Other words from the same root include "market," "merchandise," and "mercantile." In some areas, independent merchants have banded together to combine advertising dollars and compete against malls and big box stores. You should ask your neighborhood book merchant if they've considered joining a group like this.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In recent years some Celtic fans have been involved in anti-social behaviour after gathering in their thousands in the Merchant City and Trongate areas of Glasgow.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
China Merchant Securities International initiates buy ratings for both stocks, noting that they are accelerating their commercialization path.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
“I wish I’d played Benedict in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and Antonio in ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ who was one of Shakespeare’s gay characters,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Citi analyst Asiya Merchant argues it could face trouble with clients and suppliers, which roughly justifies the current price.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
But her nefarious plot to bore me to death failed again, because The Tempest was even better than The Merchant of Venice.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
