merchant n : a businessperson engaged in retail trade [syn: merchandiser]

Merchant \Mer"chant\, n. [OE. marchant, OF. marcheant, F. marchand, fr. LL. mercatans, -antis, p. pr. of mercatare to negotiate, L. mercari to traffic, fr. merx, mercis, wares. See Market, Merit, and cf. Commerce.]
1. One who traffics on a large scale, especially with foreign countries; a trafficker; a trader. Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad. --Shak.
2. A trading vessel; a merchantman. [Obs.] --Shak.
3. One who keeps a store or shop for the sale of goods; a shopkeeper. [U. S. & Scot.]

Merchant \Mer"chant\, a. Of, pertaining to, or employed in, trade or merchandise; as, the merchant service. Merchant bar, Merchant iron or steel, certain common sizes of wrought iron and steel bars. Merchant service, the mercantile marine of a country. --Am. Cyc. Merchant ship, a ship employed in commerce. Merchant tailor, a tailor who keeps and sells materials for the garments which he makes.

Merchant \Mer"chant\, v. i. To be a merchant; to trade. [Obs.]

See more meaning on Merchant...

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.

Merchants can be one of two types:

A merchant class characterizes many pre-modern societies. Its status can range from high (the members even eventually achieving titles such as that of merchant prince or nabob) to low, as in Chinese culture, owing to the presumed distastefulness of profiting from "mere" trade rather than from labor or the labor of others as in agriculture and craftsmanship.

In the United States, "merchant" is defined (under the Uniform Commercial Code) as any person while engaged in a business or profession or a seller who deals regularly in the type of goods sold. Under the common law and the Uniform Commercial Code in the United States, merchants are held to a higher standard in the selling of products than those who are not engaged in the sale of goods as a profession.

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