Commerce \Com"merce\, n.
Note: (Formerly accented on the second syllable.) [F.
commerce, L. commercium; com- + merx, mercis,
merchandise. See Merchant.]
1. The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; esp.
the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between
different places or communities; extended trade or
traffic.
The public becomes powerful in proportion to the
opulence and extensive commerce of private men.
--Hume.
2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in
society with another; familiarity.
Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce
with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser.
--Macaulay.
3. Sexual intercourse. --W. Montagu.
4. A round game at cards, in which the cards are subject to
exchange, barter, or trade. --Hoyle.
Chamber of commerce. See Chamber.
Syn: Trade; traffic; dealings; intercourse; interchange;
communion; communication.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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