mercantile
Of business dealings
Mercantile means relating to trade, commerce, or merchants.
A mercantile establishment is a store or trading business.
Mercantile law governs commercial transactions.
The word has an old-fashioned ring—you're more likely to encounter it in historical contexts or proper names like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange than in everyday speech about buying and selling.
Open-air merchant district
- emporiumLarge varied retail store
- soukTraditional Arab market
- agoraGreek civic square
- martRetail establishment
arcade · stalls · vendors · shopkeepers · peddlers · hawkers · kiosk · booth
One who transacts commercially
- exchangeMutual giving and receiving
- barterDirect goods-for-goods exchange
- importObtain from overseas
- exportForeign-bound sale
tariffs · shipping · commodities · broker · wholesale · retail · transactions · invoices
Gain exceeding expenditure
- enterpriseCommercial undertaking or initiative
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- monopolyOne seller, no substitutes
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
investment · venture · partnership · guild · company · firm · ledger · accounts
Items offered for sale
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- inventoryCatalog of held assets
- stockGoods kept for sale
- provisionsStockpiled food and supplies
products · supplies · articles · cargo · textiles · spices · dry goods · bolts
Domination through foreign settlement
- East India CompanyBritish colonial trading corporation
- guildProfessional mutual-aid society
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
- journeymanQualified trade worker
burgher · bourgeoisie · Hanseatic · spice trade · silk road · counting house · factor · warehouse
bazaar
Open-air merchant district
mart · arcade · stalls · vendors · shopkeepers · peddlers · hawkers · kiosk · booth · auction
trader
One who transacts commercially
export · tariffs · shipping · commodities · broker · wholesale · retail · transactions · invoices · trade routes
profit
Gain exceeding expenditure
- enterpriseCommercial undertaking or initiative
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- monopolyOne seller, no substitutes
speculation · investment · venture · partnership · guild · company · firm · ledger · accounts · capital
wares
Items offered for sale
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- inventoryCatalog of held assets
- stockGoods kept for sale
provisions · products · supplies · articles · cargo · textiles · spices · dry goods · bolts · barrels
colonialism
Domination through foreign settlement
- East India CompanyBritish colonial trading corporation
- guildProfessional mutual-aid society
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
journeyman · burgher · bourgeoisie · Hanseatic · spice trade · silk road · counting house · factor · warehouse
- frontier towngeneral store, saloon, sheriff's office, livery stable, hitching post
- general storecounter, cash register, ledger, cracker barrel, checkerboard
- old-fashionedantique, antiques, gramophone, phonograph, horse and buggy
- retail storesWalmart, store, shop, grocery, boutique
- shopsshop, boutique, store, bakery, bookstores
- marketsmarketplace, bazaar, souk, vendors, food stalls
mercantileagricultural
Of farming practices
industrial · manufacturing · agrarian · pastoral · extractive
mercantilenoncommercial
Not for profit
charitable · philanthropic · nonprofit · humanitarian · altruistic
mercantilesubsistence
Minimal means of living
autarkic · self-sufficient · domestic · barter · stagnant