Mercenary vs Merchant - What's the difference?
mercenary | merchant |
Motivated by private gain.
* Dryden
A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose prime or sole motivation is private gain.
A person who traffics in commodities for profit.
The owner or operator of a retail business.
A trading vessel; a merchantman.
* 1611 , , II. i. 5:
As a resident of a region, to buy goods from a non-resident and sell them to another non-resident.
As nouns the difference between mercenary and merchant
is that mercenary is a person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose prime or sole motivation is private gain while merchant is a person who traffics in commodities for profit.As an adjective mercenary
is motivated by private gain.As a verb merchant is
as a resident of a region, to buy goods from a non-resident and sell them to another non-resident.As a proper noun Merchant is
{{surname|lang=en}.mercenary
English
(wikipedia mercenary)Adjective
(en adjective)- For God forbid I should my papers blot / With mercenary lines, with servile pen.
Synonyms
* (motivated by private gain) greedy, venalNoun
(mercenaries)Synonyms
* SeeSee also
* soldiermerchant
English
(wikipedia merchant)Alternative forms
* merchaunt (obsolete)Noun
(en noun)- Every day, some sailor's wife, / The masters of some merchant', and the ' merchant , / Have just our theme of woe.
Derived terms
* merchantable * merchant bank * merchant banker * merchant flag * merchant fleet * merchantman * merchant marine * mercantile * merchant navy * merchant prince * merchant seaman * merchant ship * merchant tailor * wine merchantVerb
(en verb)- a merchanting service
