mercatanzia

Italian

Alternative forms

  • mercatantia, mercadantia, mercadanzia, mercaandia

Etymology

mercatante (“merchant”) +‎ -ia (abstract noun suffix)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mer.ka.tanˈt͡si.a/
  • Rhymes: -ia
  • Hyphenation: mer‧ca‧tan‧zì‧a

Noun

mercatanzia f (plural mercatanzie) (archaic, literary)

  1. trade, trading, traffic (exchange of goods)
    nave di mercatanzia ― merchant ship
    porto di mercatanzia ― merchant port
    • early 14th century–1347? [c. 41 BCE], “Della divisione d'Affrica, e che genti l'abitarono prima [The division of Africa, and the peoples who once inhabited it]” (chapter 15), in Bartholomew of San Concordio, transl., Il Giugurtino‎[1], translation of Bellum Jugurthinum by Sallust (in Classical Latin), page 179; republished in Il Catilinario e il Giugurtino di C. [Caio] Crispo Sallustio volgarizzati da fra Bartolomeo da San Concordio, Florence: G. Barbera, 1863:
      […] ’l mare grande e la lingua strana vietava loro mercatanzie.
      [original: mare magnum et ignara lingua commercio prohibebant]
      […] the rough sea and the foreign language impeded their trading.
    • c. 1307, Dante Alighieri, chapter 11, Trattato quarto [Fourth treatise], in Convivio [The Banquet]‎[2], section 7; Antonio Enzo Quaglio, editor, 2nd edition, Florence: Felice Le Monnier, 1964:
      […] vegnono da fortuna aiutatrice di ragione, sì come quando per licito o per illicito procaccio: licito dico, quando è per arte o per mercatantia o per servigio meritante; illicito dico, quando è per furto o per rapina.
      […] they [riches] come from fate aiding reason, by both legitimate and illegitimate acquisition: by legitimate, I mean when it happens through craft, or trade, or valuable service; by illegitimate, I mean when it happens through theft or robbery.
  2. (very rare) a commercial relation
  3. (very rare) trading skills
  4. merchandise, goods for trading
    • c. 1300 [c. 1298], Marco Polo et al., Milione [Million]‎[3], translation of Le divisement dou monde by Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa (in Old French); republished as “Lor partita di Gostantinopoli [Their departure from Constantinople]” (chapter 2), in Antonio Lanza, editor, Il Milione di Marco Polo, L'Unità - Editori Riuniti, 1982:
      Egli è vero che al tempo che Baldovino era imperadore di Gostantinopoli - ciò fu ne gli anni di Cristo 1250 -, messere Niccolaio Polo, lo quale fu padre di messere Marco, e messere Matteo Polo suo fratello, questi due fratelli erano nella città di Gostantinopoli venuti da Vinegia con mercatantia
      [original: Il fu voir que au tens qe Baudoin estoit enperaor de Gostantinople, ce fu a les .mccl. anç, mesire Nicolao Pol, que pere messire March estoit, et messiere Mafeu Pol, que frere mesere Nicolau estoit, cesti deus freres estoient en la cité de Gostantinople, qui i estoient alés de Venese con leur merchandie (Franco-Venetian)]
      It is true that, at the time that Baldwin was emperor of Constantinople—that was in the year of Christ 1250—sir Niccolò Polo (who was sir Marco's father) and his brother, sir Matteo Polo, these two brothers were in the city of Constantinople, having come from Venice with goods for trading
  5. (material) wealth
  6. a literary, artistic or intellectual production; (creative) work
  7. (very rare) nonsensical statement; nonsense
  8. (very rare) prostitute
  9. (very rare) prostitution
  10. (very rare) the female physical attributes (considered as a means of mercenary seduction)
  11. (very rare, figurative) political-diplomatic negotiations
  12. means (to an end)
  13. (very rare) punishment
  14. (very rare) one who is betrayed for morally-low reasons
  15. utilitarianism
  16. (historical) in the Republic of Venice, the office regulating trade

References

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