mercantile
Americanadjective
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of or relating to merchants or trade; commercial.
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engaged in trade or commerce.
a mercantile nation.
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Economics. of or relating to the mercantile system.
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of trade or traders; commercial
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of or relating to mercantilism
Related Words
See commercial.
Other Word Forms
- nonmercantile adjective
- quasi-mercantile adjective
- unmercantile adjective
Etymology
Origin of mercantile
1635–45; < French < Italian: pertaining to merchants, equivalent to mercant ( e ) merchant (< Latin mercant-, stem of mercāns buyer, noun use of present participle of mercārī to buy) + -ile -ile
Explanation
What do merchants want to do? Buy and sell things to make a profit. The adjective mercantile describes these kinds of efforts and goals. Many people have mercantile dreams of opening a store where they can sell things they love and interact with people in their community. Sometimes, however, the word mercantile has negative connotations. Exploiting factory workers, polluting the environment, wasting natural resources? All these reflect the dark side of the mercantile pursuit of profit.
Vocabulary lists containing mercantile
100 SAT Words Beginning with "M"
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The Federalist Papers, No. 10 by James Madison
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The Awakening
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It expanded Chincha's agricultural productivity and mercantile influence, leading to exchanges of resources and power."
From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026
Far from being unique or “a heroic visionary,” Columbus was a typical merchant-seafarer of his time, combining the energies of a Genoese mercantile chancer with the drive of a man who wanted to get rich.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
Just like Miami, the style emerged in the city at a time of economic flux and transformation, spurred by its modern, mercantile port-city energy.
From BBC • Nov. 22, 2025
“We had three really competent engineers. They might have trained in a mercantile or other type of marine institution, but they wanted to put their skills to work for a greater cause.”
From Slate • Jul. 22, 2025
Lefty’s father had loved market season at the Koza Han, but the mercantile impulse hadn’t been passed down to his son.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
