▪ I. merchandise, n.
(ˈmɜːrtʃəndaɪz)
Forms: α. 3–7 marchandise, 3–6 -dis, marchaundise, 4 marchauntyse, Sc. -andiss, 4–6 -aundyse, 4– 7 -andize, 5 -tyse, -endise, -anddysse, 5–6 -andyse, -aundys, 5–7 -andies, 6 -aundies, -dize, -auntdyse, 6–7 -andice, -ize. β. 3 mercandise, 5 merchauntyse, -antdyse, -andyse, -aundys, 5–6 -dyse, 6 merchandice, -dys, 6– merchandize, 3– merchandise.
[a. F. marchandise (from 12th c.), f. marchand merchant.]
† 1. The action or business of buying and selling goods or commodities for profit; the exchange of commodities for other commodities or for money. to be of good merchandise, to be easily marketable. to go a merchandise, to go trading. Obs. exc. arch.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2199 Ȝe beþ men bet iteiȝt to..hamer & to nelde & to mercandise al so Þan wiþ suerd oþer hauberc eny bataile to do. c 1320 Sir Tristrem 1383 A schip..Wiþ alle þing..Þat pende to marchandis. 1382 Wyclif John ii. 16 Nyle ȝe make the hous of my fadir an hous of marchaundise [L. negotiationis]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 110 What manere mester oþer merchaundise he vsede. 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1888) 10 To..by and sell after treu cource of merchantdyse. 1452 in Gross Gild Merch. II. 67 He that hawe bene aprentyse with a marchaunte at marchanddyssis. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccviii. 710 Ther was made a commandement y{supt} non shuld go a marchandise into Flaunders. 1534 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 121 No person..shall use eny maner of marchauntdyse or marchauntdysyng. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 21 There is little trafficque or marchaundise in this region. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xiii. 49 To exercise..their handicrafts and merchandises. 1652–62 Heylin Cosmogr. i. (1682) 100 He fell from Merchandize, which was his first Profession, unto the study of Religion. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T., Mark ii. 17 These use Merchandize here. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 85, I produced three bales of English cloth, and said they would be of good merchandise at Gombaroon. 1731 (title) An Essay on the Merchandise of Slaves and Souls of Men. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India I. ii. ii. 116 Their duties are to tend cattle, to carry on merchandize, and to cultivate the ground. |
† b. transf. and fig.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16471 Quen þat he sagh his maister sua be-casten al to care..Þan him reud his marchandis. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 63 Þes synnes of robberie & sathanas marchaundise. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 10 O maruelous marchandies! þe Maker of man kynd takyng a soulid body of þe virgyn. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cclxxxviii. 431 Or we make y{supt} marchandyse, we shall sell ourselfe so derely that it shall be spoken of a hundred yeres after our dethes. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 56 b, They establishe the marchandise of massing, and other abhominations. 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 119 These are the fruits, and reuenues, of that wicked merchandice of dice playing. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. xiv. (1674) 156 [They] have turned the administration of sacred Justice into an execrable Merchandize. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Distant Corresp., This sort of merchandise [sc. puns] above all requires a quick return. |
c. Phr. to make (a or one's) merchandise, † to carry on or conclude a bargain (obs.); also (arch.) const. of = to traffic in (usually in bad sense).
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 53/3 His Marchaundise he maude a-day in þe cite of Asise. a 1300 Cursor M. 16490 ‘All for noght’, coth þai, ‘iudas þi marchandis es made’. c 1300 Harrowing of Hell 98 Hou mihtest þou on ani wise Of oþer mannes þing make marchandise? c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 9673 Thei made a schrewed marchaundise: Eche slo other. c 1440 York Myst. xxvi. 215 But I wolde make a marchaundyse. 1483 Cath. Angl. 235/1 To make Merchandyse, mercari, mercandizari, & cetera. 1531 Tindale Expos. 1 John 28 They made marchaundise of open penaunce. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 332 Nane of thame sall brek bouk, nor mak marchandice quhill the tyme that thair gudis be housit. 1611 Bible Deut. xxi. 14 Thou shalt not make merchandize of her. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. State v. xiv. 413 [They] will rather suffer their daughter to make merchandise of her chastity, than marry the richest merchant. 1774 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 394 Coin may be liable, in the fluctuation of trade, to be made a merchandise of. 1814 Cary Dante, Par. xvii. 50 There [at Rome] Where gainful merchandize is made of Christ. 1863 Froude Hist. Eng. VIII. 182 She said she would make no merchandise of her conscience. |
2. The commodities of commerce; movables which are or may be bought and sold.
petty merchandise (16th c. pitimarchandis): small wares.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 53/3 In almesdede he spendede an on pouere Men muchedel is Marchaundise. a 1300 Cursor M. 14723 He mani chapmen fand Serekin marchandis chepand. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4348 Þe somers schulleþ by-forn ous gon, Wyþ grete pakkes euerechon, As it were marchaundyse. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 145 Gothia is a region of Scythia..copious of alle kyndes of marchandise. 1522 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 327 Other habordasher [? = haberdash ware] and pitimarchandis broght by marchant estrangers commyng to this citie. 1523 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Any vitail, or other marchaundise. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 29 Ships of warre or marchandize. 1635 R. N. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. 57 Wooll and other English Marchandies. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 119 Where but one selleth, the Merchandise is the dearer. 1734 G. Sale Koran Prelim. Disc. §1. 4 A great fair or mart for all kinds of merchandize. 1825 Bentham Ration. Reward 238 When an article of the produce of land or labour..is offered in exchange, it then becomes an article of commerce: it is merchandise. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xii, A black woman..threw her arms round that unfortunate piece of merchandise before enumerated, ‘John, aged thirty’. 1903 Edin. Rev. Apr. 490 Small quantities of merchandise. |
† b. With plural construction. Obs.
| 1588 Kyd Househ. Philos. Wks. (1901) 276 Heereof speaketh Tully,..that Merchandize, if they were small, were base and but of vile account; if great, not much to be dislyked. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 104 The Marchandize which thou hast brought from Rome Are all too deere for me. c 1610 Bacon Impos. Merchandises Wks. 1778 II. 223 You shall find, a few merchandise only excepted, the poundage equal upon alien and subject. 1633 Massinger Guardian Epil., I am left to enquire..at what rate His marchandise are valued. |
† c. A kind of merchandise; a saleable commodity, an article of commerce. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 270 The Marchauntes come not thidre so comounly, for to bye Marchandises. 1439 Rolls of Parlt. V. 24/1 Chese and Buttur is a Merchaundise that may not wele be kept. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 20 b, Marle..whiche caried vppon the sea in vessels is sold as a great marchandize. 1643 Evelyn Diary 14 Nov., They brought us choice of guns and pistolls,..being here a merchandise of greate account. 1704 Addison Italy (1733) 58 The Duties are great that are laid on Merchandises. 1758 Descr. Thames 211 Cavear or Kavia is a considerable Merchandize among the Turks. 1853 Whewell tr. Grotius III. 372 Nor ought there to be urged..the cases of merchandises which..are carried past the place where dues are to be paid. |
d. attrib. in merchandise exports, merchandise imports, merchandise mark, merchandise traffic.
| 1887 Act 50 & 51 Vict. c. 28 §1 This Act may be cited as the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887. 1892 Daily News 22 July 2/4 Till 1st January, 1893, on which date the new classification of merchandise traffic..will come into force on all the railways. 1898 Ibid. 1 Feb. 5/2 The figures show an increase of 14,700,000l...in merchandise imports and an increase of 17,700,000l...in merchandise exports. |
▪ II. merchandise, v.
(ˈmɜːtʃəndaɪz)
[f. prec.]
1. intr. To trade, traffic; † also, to make merchandise of. arch.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke xix. 13 And he seide to hem, Marchaundise ȝe [Vulg. negotiamini] til I come. Ibid. 2 Pet. ii. 3 Thei shulen marchaundise of ȝou [Vulg. de vobis negotiabuntur]. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 475/1 He sende..his Servant, Factour and Attournay, to marchandise ther with Wollen Cloth. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccviii. 711 They of Tourney durst nat marchaundyse with them of Flaunders. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. xii. 77 Such further mischiefes, as might arise by his Subjects merchandizing with the Rebels. 1673 Ess. to Revive Educ. Gentlew. 35 She could not Merchandize, without knowledge in Arithmetick. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. (1692) 179 Who hath merchandized in Souls of Men. 1706 Vanbrugh Mistake ii. 283 He that merchandises thus must be undone at last. 1737 [S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. 215 This they are doing perpetually..rather visiting than merchandizing. 1862 Sala Ship Chandler iv. 65 For how many years had they not merchandised together? 1890 Gross Gild Merch. I. 37 Anyone who is not of that Gild may not merchandise with them. |
2. trans. To buy and sell; to barter; to traffic in. arch.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Add., Aginor, to marchandyse vyle thinges, or of small value. 1592 Conspir. Pretended Reform. 21 Thus..they merchandized the hasard of their friends life. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cii, That loue is marchandiz'd, whose ritch esteeming, The owners tongue doth publish euery where. 1629 Maxwell Herodian (1635) 115 The Romans call upon me..not [to] permit so..glorious an Empire to bee basely merchandized. 1631 Massinger Emperor East iii. ii, Must I..like A prostituted creature, merchandize Our mutuall delight for hire? 1684 W. Penn in Academy 11 Jan. (1896) 36/1 If it be below great men to be kind for recompence, and marchandize their Powr, it is [etc.]. 1715 Rowe Lady J. Grey v. ii, Think'st thou that princes merchandize their grace, As Roman priests their pardons? |
3. a. To put on the market; to promote the sale of (goods, etc.).
| 1926 Publishers' Weekly 22 May 1687/2 When an author suddenly springs into prominence with a best seller..I would make that best seller work retroactively and I would merchandise all of his preceding books. 1959 I. Ross Image Merchants (1960) xv. 270 A new breakfast food or a new form of aspirin can easily be merchandised. 1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 43 This typing paper..only merchandised in Maine. 1971 Daily Tel. 9 June 5/3 Books can be merchandised like other products. |
b. transf. To advertise (an idea or person); to publicize; to ‘put over’.
| 1973 J. Ryder Trevayne (1974) xxxix. 309 Andrew Trevayne could be merchandised with extraordinary effect. He has all the qualifications. 1974 Radio Times 20 Jan. 9/3, I was never merchandised in my career as any kind of symbol. 1974 Saturday (Charleston, S. Carolina) 20 Apr. 1-A/3 Paul said the effect of trouble will depend on how the ‘unfortunate situation’ is merchandised. |