merchandise

See also: merchandisé

English

Alternative forms

• merchandize (non‐standard)
• merchaundise, merchaundize (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman marchaundise, from marchaunt (“merchant”).

See etymology for merchant

Pronunciation

• (General American) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝtʃənˌdaɪs/, /ˈmɝtʃənˌdaɪz/
• (General American) (verb) IPA^(key): /ˈmɝtʃənˌdaɪz/
• (Received Pronunciation) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːtʃənˌdaɪs/, /ˈmɜːtʃənˌdaɪz/
• (Received Pronunciation) (verb) IPA^(key): /ˈmɜːtʃənˌdaɪz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

merchandise (usually uncountable, plural merchandises)

1. (uncountable) Commodities offered for sale.

   good business depends on having good merchandise

2. (countable) A commodity offered for sale; an article of commerce; a kind of merchandise.
3. (uncountable) The act or business of trading; trade; traffic.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "merchandise": returned, used, damaged, stolen, assorted, lost, promotional, industrial, cheap, expensive, imported, good, inferior.

Synonyms

• wares
• product

Translations

commodities offered for sale

• Arabic: بِضَاعَة‎ f (biḍāʿa), plural: بَضَائِعُ‎ f pl (baḍāʾiʿu), سِلَع‎ m (silaʿ)
• Azerbaijani: mal (az)
• Bashkir: тауар (tawar)
• Burmese: ကုန် (my) (kun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 產品 (zh), 产品 (zh) (chǎnpǐn), 貨物 (zh), 货物 (zh) (huòwù), 物品 (zh) (wùpǐn), 製品 (zh), 制品 (zh) (zhìpǐn)

• Czech: zboží (cs) n
• Esperanto: komercaĵo
• Finnish: kauppatavarat pl
• French: marchandise (fr)
• German: Waren (de) f pl
• Greek: εμπόρευμα (el) n (empórevma)

  Ancient: φορτία n pl (phortía)

• Hebrew: סחורה‎ (he) f
• Ido: varo (io), vari (io)
• Indonesian: barang dagangan (id)

• Irish: earra m
• Italian: merce (it) f, mercanzia (it) f
• Japanese: 品物 (ja) (しなもの, shinamonó), 商品 (ja) (しょうひん, shōhin), 物品 (ja) (ぶっぴん, buppin), 品 (ja) (しな, shina), 商材 (しょうざい, shōzai)
• Latin: merx f
• Latvian: prece (lv) f
• Maori: hoko
• Portuguese: mercadoria (pt) f
• Romanian: marfă (ro) f
• Russian: това́р (ru) m (továr)
• Scottish Gaelic: bathar m
• Slovene: trgovsko blago m
• Spanish: mercancía (es) f
• Swedish: handelsvaror c or pl
• Tagalog: baligyain
• Thai: สินค้า (th) (sǐn-káa)
• Yiddish: סחורה‎ f (skhoyre)

commodity offered for sale

• Finnish: kauppatavara (fi)
• Maori: hoko

• Swedish: handelsvara (sv) c
• Tagalog: baligyain

act or business of trading

• Finnish: kauppa (fi)
• Slovene: trgovati, tržiti, prodajati (sl)

• Swedish: handel (sv) c

Verb

merchandise (third-person singular simple present merchandises, present participle merchandising, simple past and past participle merchandised)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To engage in trade; to carry on commerce.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

2. (intransitive) To engage in in-store promotion of the sale of goods, as by display and arrangement of goods.

   He started his career merchandising in a small clothing store chain.

3. (transitive, archaic) To engage in the trade of.
4. (transitive) To engage in in-store promotion of the sale of.

   He got hired to merchandise some new sporting goods lines.

5. (transitive) To promote as if for sale.

   The record companies don't get as good a return on merchandising artists under contract.

Translations

to engage in the trade of

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} comerț (ro) n

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} handla (sv)

Related terms

• mercantile
• merchant
• merchantable

 

References

• “merchandise” in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.
• “merchandise” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

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French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: merchandisent, merchandises

Verb

merchandise

1. first-person singular present indicative of merchandiser
2. third-person singular present indicative of merchandiser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of merchandiser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of merchandiser
5. second-person singular imperative of merchandiser