commerce — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The 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.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   [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, […]

   Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser.

   More examples (1)

   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.

3. Sexual intercourse.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   carnal commerce

4. An 18th-century French card game in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Verb

1. To carry on trade; to traffic.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Intransitive

   Examples

   [A]lwaies beware you commerce not with bankrupts, […]

2. To hold conversation; to communicate.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Intransitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   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— […]

   Musicians […] taught the people in angelic harmonies to commerce with heaven.

Noun

1. transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services)

   Synonyms

   commercialismmercantilism

   Broader terms

   transactiondealingdealings

2. social exchange, especially of opinions, attitudes, etc.

   Broader terms

   conversation