merchandise

noun mer·chan·dise \ ˈmər-chən-ˌdīz , -ˌdīs \

Definition of merchandise

1 archaic :the occupation of a merchant :trade

2 :the commodities or goods that are bought and sold in business :wares

sells a variety of spring merchandise

See merchandise defined for English-language learners

See merchandise defined for kids

Examples of merchandise in a Sentence

The merchandise will arrive by truck at noon.
He's developed his own brand of merchandise.

Recent Examples of merchandise from the Web

He has even been seen wearing his own merchandise, which is for sale on his website, on his way to survey the damage.

— veronica hilbring, Essence.com, "Tone Deaf: Here's Everything Trump Has Said About Hurricane Harvey," 30 Aug. 2017
Buzzfeed reports that Apple Pay and Paypal have recently cut off business with a number of sites selling white-nationalist and Nazi merchandise.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Getting Hate Speech Off Music-Streaming Services," 17 Aug. 2017
The new color will be used by his estate on official products and merchandise.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Prince Now Has His Own Shade of Purple," 15 Aug. 2017
An employee of a business in the 1900 block of Tower Drive told police Aug. 5 that someone put merchandise into a bag and walked out of the store without paying.

— alexandra kukulka, chicagotribune.com, "Police: $1,500 in jewelry, office equipment stolen from Glenview home," 14 Aug. 2017
Other companies are using 3D-printing providers to create merchandise for them, too.

— The Economist, "Model citizenThe spread of 3D models creates intellectual-property problems," 20 July 2017
Shavonda Allen, also referred to as Shavon Allen, entered the Dollar General on July 6 with an empty purse and then proceeded to fill it with merchandise, according to an arrest warrant from the Louisville Metro Police Department.

— darcy costello, The Courier-Journal, "Police: Woman robbed a Dollar General store, assaulted employee with an umbrella," 19 July 2017
For two years, the department has been studying the merchandise and mulling what all is involved.

— logan jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Sheriff shops in slow motion for body cameras," 15 July 2017
Alibaba discloses the total value of merchandise sold on its fake shopping holiday.

— shira ovide, The Seattle Times, "Amazon’s well-hyped Prime Day a no-show in filings," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'merchandise.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of merchandise

Middle English marchaundise, from Anglo-French marchandise, from marcheant

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

merchandise Synonyms

Synonyms

commodities, goods, wares

Related Words

line; export, import; inventory, staples, stock, stuff, supply; job lot; domestics, durables (also durable goods), hard goods

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

merchandise

verb mer·chan·dise \ -ˌdīz \

variants: or less commonly merchandize

Definition of merchandise

merchandised also merchandized; merchandising also merchandizing

intransitive verb

archaic :to carry on commerce :trade

transitive verb

1 :to buy and sell in business

carpets from Iran, India, or Taiwan are merchandised along with Italian leather goods and Spanish ceramics
—Irving Kolodin

2 :to promote for or as if for sale

merchandise a movie star

—

merchandiser

noun

See merchandise defined for English-language learners

Examples of merchandise in a Sentence

The political candidates are being merchandised to the public.
the now-familiar practice of stores merchandising goods at dramatically lower prices on the day after Thanksgiving

Recent Examples of merchandise from the Web

This joke is simultaneously a dig at Facebook (which has, by the quip’s logic, outsourced its creativity) and Snap (which is, by the quip’s logic, a product team that has no idea how to merchandise its ingenuity).

— derek thompson, The Atlantic, "Is Snap the New Twitter?," 11 Aug. 2017
The new partners will share offline retail branches, merchandising capability, logistics and technology.

— Fortune, "The Accelerating Disruption of China’s Economy," 16 June 2017
The layoffs include the distribution center, sales and merchandising employees.

— hannah madans, Orange County Register, "Kellogg to lay off 280 as it closes an O.C. distribution center," 15 June 2017
Mostly bohemian in nature, the students’ flowing pieces were both day- and night-appropriate, proving Drexel professors managed to teach designers fashion’s most important merchandising lesson of all: versatility.

— elizabeth wellington, Philly.com, "Student Fashion Shows: Drexel students focus on nature," 13 June 2017
Music merchandising retail sales was one of the fastest growing property type percentage-wise for 2016, according to the international Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association's annual survey.

— ed christman, Billboard, "Global Music Merch Biz Grew to $3.1 Billion in 2016: Study," 22 May 2017
Before Ms. Lifford joined Warner in January 2016, the studio’s merchandising unit in some years had no growth at all.

— brooks barnes, New York Times, "Movie Ticket Sales Sagging? Time to Bring Out the Toys," 22 May 2017
The agreement became official only about a month ago, which left Yandy just weeks to merchandise the show with items from its 2017 line, all designed by Pilar Quintana, Yandy's vice president of merchandising.

— amy odell, Cosmopolitan, "How Yandy Made Its Sexy Viral Swimwear Appropriate for the Miss USA Pageant," 12 May 2017
RETAIL Supervalu, Eden Prairie, announced that Anne Dament has been named senior vice president of retail, merchandising and marketing.

— pioneer press, Twin Cities, "Business People: Sunday Feb. 5," 4 Feb. 2017

Origin and Etymology of merchandise

see ¹merchandise

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

merchandise Synonyms

Synonyms

deal (in), market (also merchandize), put up, retail, sell, vend

Antonyms

buy, purchase

Related Words

presell, wholesale; remarket, resell; hawk, peddle; barter, distribute, exchange, export, handle, trade, traffic (in); advertise, ballyhoo, boost, plug, promote, tout; bargain, chaffer, dicker, haggle, horse-trade, palter; auction; provide, supply; carry, keep, stock

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

MERCHANDISE Defined for English Language Learners

merchandise

noun

Definition of merchandise for English Language Learners

: goods that are bought and sold

merchandise

verb

Definition of merchandise for English Language Learners

: to make the public aware of (a product being offered for sale) by using advertising and other methods
: to present (someone) to the public like a product being offered for sale