Meanings
merchant1
nounmerchant (plural merchants)
plural merchants · alternative obsolete marchant · alternative obsolete merchaunt
- A person who traffics in commodities for profit.
Synonyms: trader
- The owner or operator of a retail business.
- A trading vessel; a merchantman.
Every day, some sailor's wife, / The masters of some merchant, and the merchant, / Have just our theme of woe.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 5 - derogatoryinformalsometimesSomeone who is noted for a stated type of activity or behaviour.
He's some kind of speed merchant — he drives way too fast.
1 more example
Goal merchant Smith scored twice again in the match against Mudchester Rovers.
- obsoleteA supercargo.
verbmerchant (third-person singular simple present merchants, present participle merchanting, simple past and past participle merchanted)
present singular third person merchants · participle present merchanting · participle past merchanted · past merchanted · alternative obsolete marchant · alternative obsolete merchaunt
Merchant2
proper noun
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who traffics in commodities for profit.
Similar
Opposite
Broader
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Italic*merks
- Latinmerx
- Latinmercor
- Latinmercāns
- Anglo-Normanmarchaunt
- Middle Englishmarchaunt
- Englishmerchant
From Middle English marchaunt, from Anglo-Norman marchaunt, from mercans, from the verb mercor (“to trade, deal, sell”).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans handelaar, koopman
- handelaarperson who traffics in commodities
- koopmanperson who traffics in commodities
Ancient Greek ἔμπορος
- ἔμπορος (émporos)person who traffics in commodities
Arabic تَاجِر, تَاجِرَة
- تَاجِر (tājir)person who traffics in commodities
- تَاجِرَة (tājira)person who traffics in commodities
Bengali বণিক, ব্যবসায়ী
- বণিক (bonik)person who traffics in commodities
- ব্যবসায়ী (bêbśaẏi)person who traffics in commodities
Bulgarian търго́вец, търго́вка
- търго́вец (tărgóvec)person who traffics in commodities
- търго́вка (tărgóvka)person who traffics in commodities
Catalan mercader
- mercaderperson who traffics in commodities
Chinese Cantonese 商人, 商家
- 商人 (soeng¹ jan⁴)person who traffics in commodities
- 商家 (soeng¹ gaa¹)person who traffics in commodities
Chinese Mandarin 商人, 商家
- 商人 (shāngrén)person who traffics in commodities
- 商家 (shāngjiā)person who traffics in commodities
Czech kupec, obchodník
- kupecperson who traffics in commodities
- obchodníkperson who traffics in commodities
Danish købmand, købmand
- købmandperson who traffics in commodities
- købmandthe owner or operator of a retail business
- handelsmandthe owner or operator of a retail business
Dutch koopman, koopvrouw
- koopmanperson who traffics in commodities
- koopvrouwperson who traffics in commodities
Esperanto komercisto, komercistino
- komercistoperson who traffics in commodities
- komercistinoperson who traffics in commodities
Estonian kaupmees
- kaupmeesperson who traffics in commodities
Finnish kauppias, kauppias
- kauppiasperson who traffics in commodities
- kauppiasthe owner or operator of a retail business
French marchand, marchande
- marchandperson who traffics in commodities
- marchandeperson who traffics in commodities
German Kaufmann, Kauffrau
- Kaufmannperson who traffics in commodities
- Kauffrauperson who traffics in commodities
- Händlerperson who traffics in commodities
Greek έμπορος, έμπορας
- έμπορος (émporos)person who traffics in commodities
- έμπορας (émporas)person who traffics in commodities
- εμπόρισσα (empórissa)person who traffics in commodities
- εμπορευόμενος (emporevómenos)person who traffics in commodities
Hebrew סוֹחֵר
- סוֹחֵר (sokhér)person who traffics in commodities
Hindi व्यापारी, सौदागर
- व्यापारी (vyāpārī)person who traffics in commodities
- सौदागर (saudāgar)person who traffics in commodities
Hungarian kereskedő
- kereskedőperson who traffics in commodities
Icelandic kaupmaður
- kaupmaðurperson who traffics in commodities
Indonesian saudagar, pedagang
- saudagarperson who traffics in commodities
- pedagangperson who traffics in commodities
Irish ceannaí
- ceannaíperson who traffics in commodities
Italian mercante, mercantessa
- mercanteperson who traffics in commodities
- mercantessaperson who traffics in commodities
- commercianteperson who traffics in commodities
- commerciantethe owner or operator of a retail business
- negoziantethe owner or operator of a retail business
Japanese 商人
- 商人 (shōnin)person who traffics in commodities
Korean 상인
- 상인 (sang'in)person who traffics in commodities
Latin mercator, negotiator
- mercatorperson who traffics in commodities
- negotiatorperson who traffics in commodities
Latvian lieltirgotājs
- lieltirgotājsperson who traffics in commodities
Lithuanian prekybininkas
- prekybininkasperson who traffics in commodities
Malay pedagang, saudagar
- pedagangperson who traffics in commodities
- saudagarperson who traffics in commodities
- biaperiperson who traffics in commodities
Norwegian Bokmål kjøpmann, farmann
- kjøpmannperson who traffics in commodities
- farmannperson who traffics in commodities
- detaljistthe owner or operator of a retail business
- detaljhandlerthe owner or operator of a retail business
- kjøpmannthe owner or operator of a retail business
- handelsmannthe owner or operator of a retail business
Polish kupiec, handlarz
- kupiecperson who traffics in commodities
- handlarzperson who traffics in commodities
- handlarkaperson who traffics in commodities
- właściciel skleputhe owner or operator of a retail business
- właścicielka skleputhe owner or operator of a retail business
Portuguese comerciante, mercador
- comercianteperson who traffics in commodities
- mercadorperson who traffics in commodities
Romanian negustor, comerciant
- negustorperson who traffics in commodities
- comerciantperson who traffics in commodities
Russian торго́вец, купе́ц
- торго́вец (torgóvec)person who traffics in commodities
- купе́ц (kupéc)person who traffics in commodities
Scottish Gaelic ceannaiche, màlair
- ceannaicheperson who traffics in commodities
- màlairperson who traffics in commodities
- marsalperson who traffics in commodities
- malairticheperson who traffics in commodities
- ceannaichethe owner or operator of a retail business
Slovak kupec, obchodník
- kupecperson who traffics in commodities
- obchodníkperson who traffics in commodities
Spanish comerciante, mercader
- comercianteperson who traffics in commodities
- mercaderperson who traffics in commodities
- mercadanteperson who traffics in commodities
- mercanteperson who traffics in commodities
- mercador (disused)person who traffics in commodities
- mercadero (disused)person who traffics in commodities
Swahili mfanyabiashara
- mfanyabiasharaperson who traffics in commodities
Swedish köpman, handlare
- köpmanperson who traffics in commodities
- handlareperson who traffics in commodities
- köpmanthe owner or operator of a retail business
- handelsmanthe owner or operator of a retail business
Thai วาณิช, คนค้า
- วาณิช (waa-nít)person who traffics in commodities
- คนค้า (kon-káa)person who traffics in commodities
- พาณิช (paa-nít)person who traffics in commodities
- พ่อค้า (pɔ̂ɔ-káa)person who traffics in commodities
- แม่ค้า (mɛ̂ɛ-káa)person who traffics in commodities
Turkish tüccar, tacir
- tüccarperson who traffics in commodities
- tacirperson who traffics in commodities
- perakendecithe owner or operator of a retail business
Ukrainian торго́вець, купе́ць
- торго́вець (torhóvecʹ)person who traffics in commodities
- купе́ць (kupécʹ)person who traffics in commodities
Urdu سَوداگَر, تاجِر
- سَوداگَر (saudāgar)person who traffics in commodities
- تاجِر (tājir)person who traffics in commodities
Vietnamese thương gia
- thương giaperson who traffics in commodities
Welsh marsiandwr, marsiandwyr
- marsiandwrperson who traffics in commodities
- marsiandwyrperson who traffics in commodities
- marsiandwrthe owner or operator of a retail business
- marsiandwyrthe owner or operator of a retail business
Yiddish הענדלער, קויפֿמאַן
- הענדלער (hendler)person who traffics in commodities
- קויפֿמאַן (koyfman)person who traffics in commodities
Zulu uḿhwebi
- uḿhwebiperson who traffics in commodities
Cite this entry
APA
merchant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merchant
MLA
“merchant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merchant. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “merchant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merchant.
Source: merchant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.