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commerce

UK/ˈkɒ.mɜːs/US/ˈkɑ.mɚs/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,460 of 15,258mostly written

Commerce is the buying and selling of goods on a large scale. International commerce, a chamber of commerce, free commerce.

It is the wider word beside trade, taking in the transport, finance and insurance that make trade possible. A chamber of commerce is a local association of businesses. The Latin merx, goods, is behind merchant and market as well.

Definitions of commerce

  1. 1nouncommerceThe buying and selling of goods on a large scale.C1

    “The city grew rich through commerce, as ships brought silk and spices to its port.”

commerce is trade.

Where it comes from

Latin commercium is com-, together, plus merx, goods. Merchant, market and mercy come from the same root.

  1. Latin

    commercium

  2. Middle French

    commerce

  3. English, today

    commerce

Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. a doublet of comess.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

commerce in the wild

  • E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet.

    E-commerce

  • Ancient civilizations expanded commerce through the trading systems of the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Greco-Romans, alongside the Indian Ocean trade and the Silk Road.

    Commerce

  • The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce.

    United States Secretary of Commerce

  • The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce.

    United States Secretary of Commerce

  • Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas of commerce as a separate power granted to Congress.

    Commerce Clause

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • commercial