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Staple vs Commodity - What's the difference?

staple | commodity |

As nouns the difference between staple and commodity

is that staple is a town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group or staple can be a wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around while commodity is (obsolete) convenience; usefulness, suitability.

As a verb staple

is to sort according to its staple or staple can be to secure with a staple.

As an adjective staple

is relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.

staple

English

Etymology 1

(The Staple) From (etyl) estaple, (etyl) . Compare staff.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
  • * Arbuthnot
    • The customs of Alexandria were very great, it having been the staple of the Indian trade.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • For the increase of trade and the encouragement of the worthy burgesses of Woodstock, her majesty was minded to erect the town into a staple for wool.
  • * 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 73:
    • Calais was one of the ‘principal treasures’ of the crown, of both strategic and economic importance. It was home to the staple , the crown-controlled marketplace for England's lucrative textile trade, whose substantial customs and tax revenues flooded into Henry's coffers.
  • (by extension) Place of supply; source.
  • * Macaulay
    • Whitehall naturally became the chief staple of news. Whenever there was a rumour that any thing important had happened or was about to happen, people hastened thither to obtain intelligence from the fountain head.
  • The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
  • * Trench
    • We should now say, Cotton is the great staple , that is, the established merchandize, of Manchester.
  • * 1929 , , , Chapter VIII, Section ii:
    • The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.
  • A basic or essential supply.
    • Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.
  • A recurring topic or character.
  • * 2010 , The Economist , Jul-Aug 2010, p. 27:
    • In most countries, rubbish makes headlines only when it is not collected, and stinking sacks lie heaped on the streets. In Britain bins are a front-page staple .
  • Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
    • Tow is flax with short staple .
  • Unmanufactured material; raw material.

    • Verb

    (stapl)
  • To sort according to its staple.
    • to staple cotton

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.
    • a staple town
  • Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.
    • a staple trade
    (Dryden)
  • Fit to be sold; marketable.
    • (Swift)
  • Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
  • * Hallam
    • wool, the great staple commodity of England

    Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) , from (etyl).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.
  • A wire fastener used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.
    • Can you believe they use staples to hold cars together these days?
  • A U-shaped metal fastener, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.
    • The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence-posts.
  • One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder.
    • Fortunately, there were staples in the quay wall, and she was able to climb out of the water.
  • (mining) A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
  • A small pit.
  • A district granted to an abbey.
    • (Camden)

    Verb

    (stapl)
  • To secure with a staple.
    • Derived terms
    * stapler

    Anagrams

    * ----

    commodity

    English

    Alternative forms

    * commoditie (archaic )

    Noun

    (commodities)
  • (obsolete) Convenience; usefulness, suitability.
  • Anything movable (a good) that is bought and sold.
  • * 1995 , James G. Carrier, Gifts and Commodities: Exchange and Western Capitalism Since 1700 , p.122
    • If a key part of shopping is the conversion of anonymous commodities into possessions, shopping is a cultural as much as an economic activity.
  • * 2001 , Rachel Pain, Introducing Social Geographies , p.26
    • In human geography "commodities'" usually refers to goods and services which are bought and sold. The simplest ' commodities are those produced by the production system just before they are sold.
  • * 2005 , William Leiss, Botterill, Jacki, Social Communication in Advertising: Consumption in the Mediated Marketplace , p.307
  • *:* Referring to the work of Bourdieu, Zukin (2004,38) notes that shopping is much more than the purchase of commodities
  • Something useful or valuable.
  • * 2008 , Jan. 14th, Somerset County Gazette
    • And Slade said: "It really makes me sad that football club chairmen and boards seem to have lost that most precious commodity - patience. "Sam's sacking at Newcastle had, I suppose, been on the cards for a while, but it is really ridiculous to fire a manager after such a short time.
  • (obsolete) Self-interest; personal convenience or advantage.
  • *, I.40:
    • Shall we employ the intelligence Heaven hath bestowed upon us for our greatest good, to our ruine? repugning natures desseign and the universal order and vicissitude of things, which implieth that every man should use his instruments and meanes for his owne commoditie ?
  • *, NYRB, 2001, vol.1, p.321:
    • they commonly respect their own ends, commodity is the steer of all their action.
  • (economics) Raw materials, agricultural and other primary products as objects of large-scale trading in specialized exchanges.
    • The price of crude oil is determined in continuous trading between professional players in World's many commodities exchanges.
  • (marketing) Undifferentiated goods characterized by a low profit margin, as distinguished from branded products.
    • Although they were once in the forefront of consumer electronics, the calculators have become a mere commodity .
  • (Marxism) Anything which has both a use-value and an exchange-value.