commerce
noun
Simple meaning
The exchange or buying and selling of commodities.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahmersSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑmɚs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.
Social exchange, especially of opinions, attitudes, etc.
business
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.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, commerce is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use commerce
- “The city's commerce thrives thanks to its busy port.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Connected with or engaged in or sponsored by or used in commerce or commercial enterprises.
In a commercial manner.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The person who holds the secretaryship of the Department of Commerce.
The United States federal department that promotes and administers domestic and foreign trade (including management of the census and the patent office).
An association of businessmen to protect and promote business interests.
A former executive department of the United States government.
Commerce conducted electronically (as on the internet).
A former independent federal agency that supervised and set rates for carriers that transported goods and people between states.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The act of commercializing something.
The act of commercializing something.
A document of or relating to commerce.
An enterprise connected with commerce.
A document of or relating to commerce.
A treaty governing commerce between two or more nations.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.