commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmä-də-tē How to pronounce commodity (audio)
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

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 Energy stocks are vulnerable to the boom-and-bust cycles that are common in commodity markets. WSJ, 11 Sep. 2023 Silver After gold, silver is the runner-up for being the most-common rare metal commodity. Laxmi Corp, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Sep. 2023 The Sony Pictures film tells the story of a group of unconventional investors who upended Wall Street predictions by turning video game store GameStop into a hot trading commodity. Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2023 Ripple vowed to fight back, arguing that XRP was a commodity, something akin to gold, silver, or sugar, not a security, or a share in profits from a common enterprise. Ben Weiss, Fortune Crypto, 8 Sep. 2023 Throughout 2022, gas prices were especially hard to predict as the Russian invasion of Ukraine jolted global commodities markets. Allison Morrow, CNN, 7 Sep. 2023 Nationally, pork prices are influenced by everything from feed cost to demand from China to the shifting mood in commodities markets, but some retailers are already raising prices in California, to pass on the higher cost to hog farmers of meeting the state’s more stringent standards. Julie Creswell, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023 Perhaps the point is that individuals are less real than commodities in the Instagram age — too trite an observation to be worth the tedium. Cat Zhang, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023 In place of traditional Diné foods such as corn, beans, and squash, the government provided only sparse commodities like flour, salt, sugar, and lard. Kate Nelson, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'commodity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of commodity was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near commodity

Cite this Entry

“Commodity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commodity. Accessed 26 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

commodity

noun
com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmäd-ət-ē How to pronounce commodity (audio)
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 How to pronounce commodity (audio)
plural commodities
: a class of economic goods
especially : an item of merchandise (as soybeans) whose price is the basis of futures trading

More from Merriam-Webster on commodity

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