mercantile
mercantile Lexical Profile
mercantile Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to trade or commerce; commercial.
"The port city flourished due to its strategic location along major mercantile shipping routes."
Relating to or characteristic of mercantilism, an economic system focused on accumulating national wealth through a favorable balance of trade.
"European powers in the seventeenth century enforced strict mercantile policies over their overseas colonies."
• noun
American A retail establishment or general store in a small town or rural community selling a wide variety of household goods, hardware, and dry goods.
"Settlers traveled into town once a month to buy flour, tools, and fabric at the local mercantile."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from French mercantile, from Italian mercantile, derived from mercante ('merchant'), ultimately from Latin mercari ('to trade') and merx ('merchandise, wares').