commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmä-də-tē 

plural commodities

1

: an economic good: such as

a

: a product of agriculture or mining

agricultural commodities like grain and corn

b

: an article of commerce especially when delivered for shipment

reported the damaged commodities to officials

c

: a mass-produced unspecialized product

commodity chemicals

commodity memory chips

2

a

: something useful or valued

that valuable commodity, patience

also : thing, entity

b

: convenience, advantage

… the many commodities incidental to the life of a public office …

—Charles Lamb

3

: a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (such as brand name) other than price

4

: one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market

… stars as individuals and as commodities of the film industry.

—Film Quarterly

5

obsolete : quantity, lot

Synonyms

• object
• entity
• substance
• reality

Examples of commodity in a Sentence

agricultural commodities like grain and corn

Oil is a commodity in high demand.

Patience is a rare commodity.

Recent Examples on the Web

While the legislation would not allow lawmakers to own individual stocks and bonds, they would be allowed to own diversified mutual funds and ETFs and certain commodities. —Leah Askarinam, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2025

Once a livestock farmer, Ackerman pivoted the family land to pumpkins back in the ‘80s, after commodity prices crashed and a couple of droughts wreaked havoc on the industry. —Katherine Laidlaw, HubSpot, 5 Sep. 2025

On top of buying Russia’s oil and energy commodities, China also supplies Russia with cars, semiconductors, and consumer goods. —Earl Carr, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Michael Lentz’s novel Schattenfroh portrays a dystopia in which consciousness itself is just another commodity. —Anahid Nersessian, The New York Review of Books, 4 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English commoditee, from Anglo-French, from Latin commoditat-, commoditas, from commodus

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing commodity

• hot commodity

Rhymes for commodity

• oddity

Kids Definition

commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmäd-ət-ē 

plural commodities

1

: a product of agriculture or mining

2

: an article that is bought and sold in commerce

Legal Definition

commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmä-də-tē 

plural commodities

: a class of economic goods

especially : an item of merchandise (as soybeans) whose price is the basis of futures trading