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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One such merchant was allowed to continue selling prohibited goods even after its activity had been reported to Alibaba, the DOJ said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026
That favors platforms with large user bases, local merchant networks, recommendation engines, and payment infrastructure.
From Barron's • Jun. 19, 2026
Succeeding him, effective immediately, is Takis Georgakopoulos, who has been with the company since late 2024 and most recently served as a co-president focused on technology and merchant solutions.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026
In England, Reinhold got a teaching job in the north, leaving George in London in 1767, apprenticed to a merchant.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
“It wasn’t her fault. That merchant was the greedy one!”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
