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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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Asked whether Iran would impose tolls on merchant vessels passing through the vital waterway, Caine said it was a “hypothetical” scenario — a response Kennedy rejected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The restoration on the Mills Act Property, which provides tax incentives to upkeep historic homes, has required an ecosystem of experts, including a colorist and curatorial rug merchant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Originating thousands of years ago in Indonesia, it moved west as its carriers travelled along merchant routes, Prof Laron believes.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
A merchant can reinvest profits or spend them—not both.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Rented from wealthy financier and merchant Robert Morris—who obligingly moved to another house on the same block to make way for the Washingtons—it would serve as both the president’s office and the official residence.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
By 2005, when the trade publication Catalog Age changed its name to Multichannel Merchant to reflect the rise of e-commerce, even legacy brands like Lands’ End and L.L.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the multi award-winning and critically acclaimed BBC sitcom was set at Slough paper merchant Wernham-Hogg.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
AUS Merchant Services admitted its compliance program failed to prevent illegal sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
With prices increasing worldwide, Apple is “well positioned to capture switchers” when legacy or entry-level iPhones fall into this midrange price band through promotions or subsidies, Merchant wrote.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
“The Merchant Council doesn’t think so. They wouldn’t be going to this trouble or offering up this kind of reward if they thought he’d been neutralized. Van Eck was worried. I could see it.”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Baker meticulously traces these changes as they materialized in art, literature, and the ledgers and letters of Italian merchants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Lopez gets calls from exasperated merchants dealing with vandalism and with people blocking their storefronts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Those merchants were among companies that had for years used a U.S. trade provision known as de minimis to ship orders of $800 or less directly to American consumers from overseas duty free.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Along the Pacific coast, such values clashed with those of the merchants and seafarers who had relocated from the American northeast.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Behind her, the merchants who had gathered to support her were all holding some kind of food item at the ready.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
