commodity
Definitions
A raw material or primary product that can be bought and sold, especially in bulk (e.g. oil, grain, metal).
（尤指大宗的）商品，初级产品，原材料。
A useful or valuable thing; something treated as a tradable resource.
有用或有价值的东西；被当作可交易资源的事物。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedcom- (with) + mod (measure) + -ity = 'the quality of being with due measure,' which in Latin meant 'convenient, fitting, useful.' A commodity was first simply something handy and useful; trade narrowed it to the useful goods people buy and sell. See mod.
Root mod still carries 17 more wordsWhy It Means This
The leap from 'convenient' to 'tradable good' happened through commerce: the useful, fitting things were exactly what got bought and sold. In modern economics a commodity is specifically a good that is interchangeable with others of the same type — one barrel of crude equals another — which is why people say 'time is a commodity' to mean a fungible resource you can spend or trade.
Common Collocations
- 1.commodity prices商品价格
- 2.precious commodity珍贵的资源
- 3.commodity market商品市场
- 4.trade in commodities经营大宗商品
Example Sentences
- 1.
Oil is the world's most heavily traded commodity.
- 2.
Clean drinking water is becoming a precious commodity.
- 3.
Falling commodity prices hurt the country's exports.