commerce

Definitions

com- (together) + merx (goods) = bringing goods together to buy and sell. When many people trade their wares in one shared system, you get commerce — the whole activity of business, scaled up from a single market stall to global trade.

Common Collocations

• 1.international commerce国际贸易
• 2.electronic commerce电子商务
• 3.interstate commerce州际贸易
• 4.chamber of commerce商会

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The new trade deal aims to boost commerce between the two countries.

• 2.

  The internet has completely transformed the way commerce is conducted.

• 3.

  The ancient city grew rich from the commerce passing through its port.

Easily Confused

commerce vs trade — commerce is the broad system and activity of buying and selling, often abstract and large-scale (electronic commerce, chamber of commerce). trade is more concrete: a specific exchange, an industry, or a flow of goods (the coffee trade, trade with China). You study commerce; you do trade.