merchandise

See also: merchandisé

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

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

EtymologyEdit

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

See etymology for merchant

PronunciationEdit

(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)

NounEdit

merchandise (usually uncountable, plural merchandises)

(uncountable) commodities offered for sale
good business depends on having good merchandise
(countable) a commodity offered for sale; an article of commerce; a kind of merchandise
(uncountable) the act or business of trading; trade; traffic

Usage notesEdit

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

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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, 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

VerbEdit

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

(intransitive, archaic) to engage in trade; to carry on commerce
(Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
(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.
(transitive, archaic) To engage in the trade of
(transitive) to engage in in-store promotion of the sale of
He got hired to merchandise some new sporting goods lines.
(transitive) to promote as if for sale
The record companies don't get as good a return on merchandising artists under contract.