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definitions

mercenary

[ mur-suh-ner-ee ]
/ ˈmɜr səˌnɛr i /
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adjective

working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization, etc.

noun, plural mer·ce·nar·ies.

a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.
any hireling.

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RELATED WORDS

selfish, unscrupulous, acquisitive, warrior, grasping, hireling, slave, legionnaire, avaricious, corrupt, covetous, miserly, sordid, stingy, unethical, unprincipled, venal, grabby, money-grubbing, merc

Nearby words

  1. mercator sailing,
  2. mercator track,
  3. merced,
  4. mercedes,
  5. mercedes-benz,
  6. mercer,
  7. mercer island,
  8. mercerize,
  9. mercery,
  10. merch

Origin of mercenary

1350–1400; Middle English mercenarie < Latin mercēnnārius working for pay, hired worker, mercenary, perhaps, representing earlier *mercēd(i)nārius, equivalent to *mercēdin-, stem of *mercēdō, a by-form of mercēs, stem mercēd- payment, wage (akin to merx goods; cf. merchant) + -ārius -ary
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mercenary

British Dictionary definitions for mercenary

mercenary

/ (ˈmɜːsɪnərɪ, -sɪnrɪ) /

adjective

influenced by greed or desire for gain
of or relating to a mercenary or mercenaries

noun plural -naries

a man hired to fight for a foreign army, etc
rare any person who works solely for pay
Derived Formsmercenarily, adverbmercenariness, noun

Word Origin for mercenary

C16: from Latin mercēnārius, from mercēs wages
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