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• merchant
  merchant

  noun

  a person who buys and sells commodities for profit; dealer; trader.
• Merchant
  Merchant

  noun

  Ismail (ˈɪzmeɪəl). 1936–2005, Indian film producer, noted for his collaboration with James Ivory on such films as Shakespeare Wallah (1965), The Europeans (1979), A Room with a View (1986), The Remains of the Day (1993), and The Golden Bowl (2000)

merchant

American  

[mur-chuhnt] / ˈmɜr tʃənt /

noun

• merchants
  plural

1. a person who buys and sells commodities for profit; dealer; trader.

2. a storekeeper; retailer.

   a local merchant who owns a store on Main Street.

3. Chiefly British. a wholesaler.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or used for trade or commerce.

   a merchant ship.

2. pertaining to the merchant marine.

3. Steelmaking. (of bars and ingots) of standard shape or size.

merchant ¹ British  

/ ˈmɜːtʃənt /

noun

1. a person engaged in the purchase and sale of commodities for profit, esp on international markets; trader

2. a person engaged in retail trade

3. (esp in historical contexts) any trader

4. derogatory a person dealing or involved in something undesirable

   a gossip merchant

5. (modifier)

   1. of the merchant navy

      a merchant sailor

   2. of or concerned with trade

      a merchant ship

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verb

1. (tr) to conduct trade in; deal in

Merchant ² British  

/ ˈmɜːtʃənt /

noun

1. Ismail (ˈɪzmeɪəl). 1936–2005, Indian film producer, noted for his collaboration with James Ivory on such films as Shakespeare Wallah (1965), The Europeans (1979), A Room with a View (1986), The Remains of the Day (1993), and The Golden Bowl (2000)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outmerchant
  noun
• merchant-like
  adjective
• merchantlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• merchants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of merchant

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

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

merchant Merchant merchants

“Retailers that successfully provide product catalogs, inventory feeds, merchant data, store information, reviews and other structured content to AI agents may gain a significant advantage,” the analysts said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

During evidence at the hearing, the man's daughter Su Christie, said her father, a former merchant navy crewman, had a lifelong fear of showers due to a childhood trauma.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Across three of the exhibitions, the male Viking emerges as a warrior, a seafarer, and a merchant.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

It took 12 of us across the merchant bank BDT & MSD and the law firm Wachtell Lipton, nine months, $1.7 billion and the approval of the entire league.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

In December 1775, shortly after Franklin became a member of the Committee of Secret Correspondence, a Frenchman named Julien-Alexander Achard de Bonvouloir, posing as a merchant, arrived in Philadelphia from Europe.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

Entities controlled by Amistad, including Amistad Merchant Funding, Amistad STF II and Amistad Debt Warehouse 1, were among the recipients of loans from Walter’s insurers Delaware Life and Clear Spring, according to their recent filings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

“While demand remains strong, we continue to see variability tied to customer timing, mix sensitivity, working capital intensity and customer concentration,” Asiya Merchant, technology equity analyst at Citigroup, wrote in a note on Wednesday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

“The difference of Insurance is such that every Merchant Orders their Goods shipped in British Bottoms.”

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

“It could be a limited rollout similar to Vision Pro due to supply constraints and possible hardware challenges,” Merchant noted.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

“You know exactly what I mean. I don’t believe for a second you’ll let these people hand Bo Yul-Bayur over to the Kerch Merchant Council.”

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Mohan explained that Meta has built payment systems through Stripe’s Link agent wallet, which allows users to hide card information from merchants and AI systems.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

Still, many California merchants aren’t yet equipped with chip-and-tap technology for their payment terminals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Of course, other merchants were selling those items for lower prices or had recently slashed their prices, and prices can be negotiated downward.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Under the partnership, merchants can manage ChatGPT advertising campaigns directly through the Shopify platform.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

He had become an outcast from the brotherhood of merchants.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• broker
• dealer
• exporter
• operator
• retailer
• seller
• shipper
• shopkeeper
• trader
• trafficker
• vendor
• wholesaler