merchantry
English
Etymology
merchant + -ry
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɜː(ɹ)t͡ʃəntɹi/
Noun
merchantry (usually uncountable, plural merchantries)
- (dated) The body of merchants taken collectively.
- the merchantry of a country
- (dated) The business of a merchant; merchandise.
- 1789, Horace Walpole, letter to Miss Hannah More
- I wish human wit, which is really very considerable in mechanics and merchantry, could devise some method of cultivating canes and making sugar without the manual labour of the human species.
- 1789, Horace Walpole, letter to Miss Hannah More
References
merchantry in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913