commodity

[kuh-mod-i-tee]

See more synonyms for commodity on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural com·mod·i·ties.

an article of trade or commerce, especially a product as distinguished from a service.
something of use, advantage, or value.
Stock Exchange. any unprocessed or partially processed good, as grain, fruits, and vegetables, or precious metals.

Obsolete. a quantity of goods.

Origin of commodity

1375–1425; late Middle English commodite < Anglo-French < Latin commoditās timeliness, convenience, equivalent to commod(us) (see commode) + -itās -ity

Related formsnon·com·mod·i·ty, adjective, noun, plural non·com·mod·i·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for commodity

product, goods, material, produce, asset, property, stock, belonging, object, chattel, specialty, thing, article, line, ware, vendible

Examples from the Web for commodity

Contemporary Examples of commodity

If we begin to see the other as our possession and commodity, our shoe, the shadow of our shadow, is there ever a happy outcome?
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside
Samantha Harvey
December 14, 2014
If they run off with somebody else, we say they were stolen—as if they are an object or a commodity.
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside
Samantha Harvey
December 14, 2014
Taylor knows not only the value of her commodity, but also how to control it.
Taylor Swift Dumps Spotify, Igniting Turf War Between Spotify and Apple
Dale Eisinger
November 4, 2014
More than any other media proprietor, Rupert Murdoch had an intuitive revelation about the value of news as a commodity.
Murdoch on the Rocks: How a Lone Reporter Revealed the Mogul's Tabloid Terror Machine
Clive Irving
August 25, 2014
The woman is a commodity to make money—the dowry becomes a business transaction.
Has Malala Become a Puppet of the West?
Nico Hines
April 12, 2014

Historical Examples of commodity

He had also a trick to mingle his commodity, that that which was bad might go off with the least mistrust.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here at Athens there is a dearth of the commodity, and all wisdom seems to have emigrated from us to you.
Meno
Plato
A cent is the representative of a certain quantity of corn or other commodity.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thus the use of commodity, regarded by itself, is mean and squalid.
Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for commodity

commodity

noun plural -ties

an article of commerce
something of use, advantage, or profit
economics an exchangeable unit of economic wealth, esp a primary product or raw material
obsolete
1. a quantity of goods
2. convenience or expediency

Word Origin for commodity

C14: from Old French commodité, from Latin commoditās suitability, benefit; see commodious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for commodity

early 15c., "benefit, profit, welfare;" later "a convenient or useful product," from Middle French commodité "benefit, profit," from Latin commoditatem (nominative commoditas) "fitness, adaptation, convenience, advantage," from commodus "suitable, convenient" (see commode). General sense "property possession" is from c.1500.

commodity in Culture

commodity

Any product manufactured or grown.