commerce

Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

com·merce

(kŏm′ərs)

1. The buying and selling of goods, especially on a large scale, as between cities or nations. See Synonyms at business.

2. Intellectual exchange or social interaction.

3. Sexual intercourse.

[French, from Old French, from Latin commercium : com-, com- + merx, merc-, merchandise.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

commerce

(ˈkɒmɜːs)

1. (Commerce) the activity embracing all forms of the purchase and sale of goods and services

2. social relations and exchange, esp of opinions, attitudes, etc

[C16: from Latin commercium trade, from commercārī, from mercārī to trade, from merx merchandise]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•merce

(ˈkɒm ərs)

n.

1. an interchange of goods or commodities between different countries or between areas of the same country; trade.

2. social relations, esp. the exchange of views, attitudes, etc.

3. sexual intercourse.

[1530–40; < Middle French < Latin commercium <com- + mercārī to buy <merx goods]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	commerce - transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services) commercialism, mercantilism trading - buying or selling securities or commodities trade - the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services; "Venice was an important center of trade with the East"; "they are accused of conspiring to constrain trade" e-commerce - commerce conducted electronically (as on the internet) interchange, exchange - reciprocal transfer of equivalent sums of money (especially the currencies of different countries); "he earns his living from the interchange of currency" initial offering, initial public offering, IPO - a corporation's first offer to sell stock to the public business enterprise, commercial enterprise, business - the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects; "computers are now widely used in business" shipping, transport, transportation - the commercial enterprise of moving goods and materials carriage trade - trade from upper-class customers transaction, dealing, dealings - the act of transacting within or between groups (as carrying on commercial activities); "no transactions are possible without him"; "he has always been honest is his dealings with me" importation, importing - the commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country exporting, exportation - the commercial activity of selling and shipping goods to a foreign country marketing - the commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service; "most companies have a manager in charge of marketing" distribution - the commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from a producer to a consumer marketing, merchandising, selling - the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money traffic - buying and selling; especially illicit trade defrayal, defrayment, payment - the act of paying money evasion, nonpayment - the deliberate act of failing to pay money; "his evasion of all his creditors"; "he was indicted for nonpayment" usance - the period of time permitted by commercial usage for the payment of a bill of exchange (especially a foreign bill of exchange) commercialise, commercialize, market - make commercial; "Some Amish people have commercialized their way of life" buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; "She buys for the big department store" take - buy, select; "I'll take a pound of that sausage" get - purchase; "What did you get at the toy store?" clear - sell; "We cleared a lot of the old model cars" turn - get by buying and selling; "the company turned a good profit after a year" negociate - sell or discount; "negociate securities" sell - exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent; "He sold his house in January"; "She sells her body to survive and support her drug habit" sell short - sell securities or commodities or foreign currency that is not actually owned by the seller, who hopes to cover (buy back) the sold items at a lower price and thus to earn a profit remainder - sell cheaply as remainders; "The publisher remaindered the books" resell - sell (something) again after having bought it deaccession - sell (art works) from a collection, especially in order to raise money for the purchase of other art works; "The museum deaccessioned several important works of this painter" fob off, foist off, palm off - sell as genuine, sell with the intention to deceive realise, realize - convert into cash; of goods and property auction, auction off, auctioneer - sell at an auction sell, trade, deal - do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood; "She deals in gold"; "The brothers sell shoes" transact - conduct business; "transact with foreign governments" deal - sell; "deal hashish" retail - sell on the retail market wholesale - sell in large quantities liquidize, sell out, sell up - get rid of all one's merchandise trade in, trade - turn in as payment or part payment for a purchase; "trade in an old car for a new one" merchandise, trade - engage in the trade of; "he is merchandising telephone sets" traffic - trade or deal a commodity; "They trafficked with us for gold" arbitrage - practice arbitrage, as in the stock market turn over - do business worth a certain amount of money; "The company turns over ten million dollars a year"
	2.	Commerce - the United States federal department that promotes and administers domestic and foreign trade (including management of the census and the patent office); created in 1913 Commerce Department, Department of Commerce, DoC executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States Bureau of the Census, Census Bureau - the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and other natural disasters related to weather Technology Administration - an agency in the Department of Commerce that works with United States industries to promote competitiveness and maximize the impact of technology on economic growth Patent and Trademark Office Database, Patent Office - the government bureau in the Department of Commerce that keeps a record of patents and trademarks and grants new ones
	3.	commerce - social exchange, especially of opinions, attitudes, etc. conversation - the use of speech for informal exchange of views or ideas or information etc.

commerce

noun

Commercial, industrial, or professional activity in general:

business, industry, trade, trading, traffic.

Translations

تِجارَه

obchod

handel

verslun, viîskipti

commercio rapporto spot publicitario veicolo commerciale camera di commercio

komercializmaskomercijakomerciniskomivojažieriuskrovininis

komercijatirdzniecība

коммерсантство коммерция

trgovina

ticaret

贸易

commerce

[ˈkɒmɜːs] N → comercio m
Chamber of Commerce → Cámara f de Comercio

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

commerce

[ˈkɒmɜː^rs] n → commerce m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

commerce

→ Handel m; (between countries also) → Handelsverkehr m; in the world of commerce → im Geschäftsleben; he is in commerce → er ist Geschäftsmann

(form: = dealings) → Verkehr m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

commerce

[ˈkɒmɜːs] n → commercio
commerce between the two countries → scambi commerciali fra i due paesi

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

commerce

(ˈkoməːs) noun

the exchange of goods between nations or people; trade on a large scale. He is engaged in commerce.

commercial (kəˈməːʃəl) adjective

1. connected with commerce. Private cars are allowed to use this road but not commercial vehicles.

2. (likely to be) profitable. a commercial proposition.

3. paid for by advertisements. commercial television.

noun

a TV or radio advertisement. I enjoyed the play but the commercials irritated me.

commercialize, commercialise (kəˈməːʃəlaiz) verb

to try to make (something) a source of profit. Christmas has become commercialized.

commercialism (kəˈməːʃəlizəm) noun

commercial traveller

a travelling representative of a business firm.

References in classic literature ?

THE SECOND class of powers, lodged in the general government, consists of those which regulate the intercourse with foreign nations, to wit: to make treaties; to send and receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; to regulate foreign commerce, including a power to prohibit, after the year 1808, the importation of slaves, and to lay an intermediate duty of ten dollars per head, as a discouragement to such importations.

It is true, that where treaties of commerce stipulate for the mutual appointment of consuls, whose functions are connected with commerce, the admission of foreign consuls may fall within the power of making commercial treaties; and that where no such treaties exist, the mission of American consuls into foreign countries may PERHAPS be covered under the authority, given by the ninth article of the Confederation, to appoint all such civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States.

View in context

A STATESMAN who attended a meeting of a Chamber of Commerce rose to speak, but was objected to on the ground that he had nothing to do with commerce.

View in context

Such are the rivalships and competitions of commerce between commercial nations.

View in context

The East-Indian and Chinese markets, the colonisation of America, trade with the colonies, the increase in the means of exchange and in commodities generally, gave to commerce, to navigation, to industry, an impulse

View in context

What government failed to effect, however, with all its patronage and all its agents, was at length brought about by the enterprise and perseverance of a single merchant, one of its adopted citizens; and this brings us to speak of the individual whose enterprise is the especial subject of the following pages; a man whose name and character are worthy of being enrolled in the history of commerce, as illustrating its noblest aims and soundest maxims.

View in context

A SHEPHERD, keeping watch over his sheep near the shore, saw the Sea very calm and smooth, and longed to make a voyage with a view to commerce. He sold all his flock, invested it in a cargo of dates, and set sail.

View in context

They were one of the few families then resident in the colonies who thought it a degradation to its members to descend to the pursuits of commerce; and who never emerged from the privacy of domestic life unless to preside in the councils of the colony or to bear arms in her defense.

View in context

Haarlem, -- just as her neighbour, Leyden, became the centre of science, and her queen, Amsterdam, that of commerce, -- Haarlem preferred to be the agricultural, or, more strictly speaking, the horticultural metropolis.

View in context

Six hundred years ago, Venice was the Autocrat of Commerce; her mart was the great commercial centre, the distributing-house from whence the enormous trade of the Orient was spread abroad over the Western world.

View in context

Hides and tallow constitute the principal riches of the missions, and, indeed, the main commerce of the country.

View in context

These specialites in trade are of frequent occurrence in Paris, and form a pleasant bond of union between the buyer and seller, which gives a particular zest to this sort of commerce, and not unfrequently a particular value to goods.