'Mercantile' definitions:
Definition of 'mercantile'
From: WordNet
adjective
Of or relating to the economic system of mercantilism; "mercantile theories"; "mercantile system"
adjective
Profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business" [syn: mercantile, mercenary, moneymaking(a)]
adjective
Relating to or characteristic of trade or traders; "the mercantile North was forging ahead"- Van Wyck Brooks
Definition of 'Mercantile'
From: GCIDE
- Mercantile \Mer"can*tile\ (?; 277), a. [F. mercantile, It. mercantile, fr. L. mercans, -antis, p. pr. of mercari to traffic. See Merchant.] Of or pertaining to merchants, or the business of merchants; having to do with trade, or the buying and selling of commodities; commercial. [1913 Webster]
- The expedition of the Argonauts was partly mercantile, partly military. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
- Mercantile agency, an agency for procuring information of the standing and credit of merchants in different parts of the country, for the use of dealers who sell to them.
- Mercantile marine, the persons and vessels employed in commerce, taken collectively.
- Mercantile paper, the notes or acceptances given by merchants for goods bought, or received on consignment; drafts on merchants for goods sold or consigned. --McElrath. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Mercantile, Commercial.
- Usage: Commercial is the wider term, being sometimes used to embrace mercantile. In their stricter use, commercial relates to the shipping, freighting, forwarding, and other business connected with the commerce of a country (whether external or internal), that is, the exchange of commodities; while mercantile applies to the sale of merchandise and goods when brought to market. As the two employments are to some extent intermingled, the two words are often interchanged. [1913 Webster]