Meanings
plural laws merchant
- countablehistoricaluncountableA body of commercial law.
[…] protesting bills of exchange and promissory notes, and such other duties as pertain to that office by the custom and laws merchant; ( 2 ) to take acknowledgments of all deeds and other instruments […]
1890, Session Laws of the State of Washington, page 111 more example
Yes Madam, I would have Law Merchant for that too—and in all cases of slander currency, whenever the Drawer of the Lie was not to be found, the injured Party should have a right to come on any of the indorsers.
1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.ii
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe body of rules applied to commercial transactions; derived from the practices of traders rather than from jurisprudence
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinlex mercatoria
- Englishlaw merchant
Calque of Latin lex mercatoria
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
law merchant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/law%20merchant
“law merchant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/law%20merchant. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “law merchant,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/law%20merchant.
Source: law merchant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.