Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The theory and system of political economy prevailing in Europe after the decline of feudalism, based on national policies of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies and a merchant marine, and developing industry and mining to attain a favorable balance of trade.
  • noun The practice, methods, or spirit of merchants; commercialism.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The mercantile spirit or character; devotion to trade and commerce; excessive importance attached to traffic, or to exchange of values in any way.
  • noun In political economics, the mercantile system, or the theories embodied in it. See mercantile.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation depends upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of trade is "unchangeable".

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services)
  • noun an economic system (Europe in 18th century) to increase a nation's wealth by government regulation of all of the nation's commercial interests

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[mercantil(e) + –ism.]

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Examples

  • But she had attained this position not by practicing free trade, rather under a now-largely-forgotten protectionist policy that has come down to us under the name "mercantilism."

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Ian Fletcher 2011

  • Additionally, very few people are looking at the direct impact of China's trade policies and how Beijing's mercantilism is beginning to hollow out other countries 'manufacturing bases -- not just in the US but also in other parts of Asia (which are also experiencing decelerations in their exports and purchasing manufacturing indices).

    Marshall Auerback: Main Street Is Dying a Death by a Thousand Spending Cuts Marshall Auerback 2010

  • Additionally, very few people are looking at the direct impact of China's trade policies and how Beijing's mercantilism is beginning to hollow out other countries 'manufacturing bases -- not just in the US but also in other parts of Asia (which are also experiencing decelerations in their exports and purchasing manufacturing indices).

    Marshall Auerback: Main Street Is Dying a Death by a Thousand Spending Cuts Marshall Auerback 2010

  • Additionally, very few people are looking at the direct impact of China's trade policies and how Beijing's mercantilism is beginning to hollow out other countries 'manufacturing bases -- not just in the US but also in other parts of Asia (which are also experiencing decelerations in their exports and purchasing manufacturing indices).

    Marshall Auerback: Main Street Is Dying a Death by a Thousand Spending Cuts Marshall Auerback 2010

  • This approach is usually referred to as mercantilism and is closely associated with the power to enforce the nation's economic will.

    CONTENTS: 2006

  • This approach is usually referred to as mercantilism and is closely associated with the power to enforce the nation's economic will.

    Governing the world trade system 2006

  • MERCANTILISM is what we're under, which is a type of despotism, but OH, I forgot ***** don't understand the word mercantilism, because they're just as ***** stupid as gw bush.

    digg.com: Stories / Popular 2009

  • MERCANTILISM is what we're under, which is a type of despotism, but OH, I forgot ***** don't understand the word mercantilism, because they're just as ***** stupid as gw bush.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz 2009

  • In fact, I believe -- and this is maybe the most difficult thing for some of the people to accept -- that we've actually -- we're actually slipping towards a pre-capitalist period, back into something that bored us to death at school, called mercantilism, which is when you had companies like the British East India Company and the Hudson Bay Company that controlled international markets from, you know, the silk worm through to the lady in a ball gown.

    CNN Transcript Oct 5, 2005 2005

  • The Europeans invented this game -- called mercantilism -- back when trade was conducted with sailing ships.

    Ian Fletcher: No, Obama, We Don't Need Free Trade Agreements with Panama, Colombia, and Korea Ian Fletcher 2011

Comments

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  • hello i have a question please answer me.. i need it now. ;)) thanks. why it is said to be unchangeable??

    n. An economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation depends upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of trade is "unchangeable".

    June 12, 2014