Commerce Meaning
/ˈkɒm.əs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.
nounSocial intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.
Sentence Examples
We must promote commerce with neighboring countries.
English is useful in commerce.
Leaders of industry and commerce met at the summit in Paris.
CEFR Practice Quiz
International ____ relies on stable shipping routes and fair trade laws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is a major global hub of trade and ____.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[A]ll libertine diſcourſe, and familiarities vvith vvomen, […] nay even friendſhip it ſelfe […] muſt be vvatched vvith great prudence to be kept ſafe: for vvhich cauſe in ſtead of all theſe perillous commerces of our love, I vvill preferre ſo ſecure an object to it, […]"
— 1648, Walter Montagu, “The Thirteenth Treatise. Handling whether to be in Love, and to be Devout, are Inconsistent. §. VIII. The Conclusion Framed upon All the Premised Discourse, and Our Love Safely Addressed.”, in Miscellanea Spiritualia: Or, Devout Essaies, London: […] W[illiam] Lee, D[aniel] Pakeman, and G[abriel] Bedell, […], →OCLC, page 179:
"Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser."
— 1911, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Bunyan, John”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
"Suppose we held our converse not in words, but in music; those who have a bad ear would find themselves cut off from all near commerce, and no better than foreigners in this big world."
— 1874–1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1881, →OCLC:
"[A]lwaies beware you commerce not with bankrupts, […]"
— 1599 (first performance), B. I. [i.e., Ben Jonson], The Comicall Satyre of Euery Man out of His Humor. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for William Holme, […], published 1600, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, signature [C iiij], verso:
"No, sir, he, / Vex'd with a morbid devil in his blood / That veil'd the world with jaundice, hid his face / From all men, and commercing with himself, / He lost the sense that handles daily life— […]"
— 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Walking to the Mail”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 48:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
International ____ relies on stable shipping routes and fair trade laws.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is a major global hub of trade and ____.