merchant (redirected from Mercantile class)

merchant noun businessperson, chandler, dealer, distributer, distributor, entrepreneur, handler, hawker, huckster, mercator, merchandiser, middleman, monger, peddler, retailer, salesperson, seller, shopkeeper, shopman, storekeeper, trader, vendor
Foreign phrases: Jus accrescendi inter mercatores, pro beneficio commercii, locum non habet.The right of surrivorship does not exist between merchants for the benefit of commerce.

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See also: dealer, supplier, vendor

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LAW, MERCHANT. A system of customs acknowledged and taken notice of by all commercial nations; and those customs constitute a part of the general law of the land; and being a part of that law their existence cannot be proved by witnesses, but the judges are bound to take notice of them ex officio. See Beawes' Lex Mercatoria Rediviva; Caines' Lex Mercatoria Americana; Com. Dig. Merchant, D; Chit. Comm. Law; Pardess. Droit Commercial; Collection des Lois Maritimes anterieure au dix hutiŠme siŠcle, par Dupin; Capmany, Costumbres Maritimas; II Consolato del Mare; Us et Coutumes de la Mer; Piantandia, Della Giurisprudenze Maritina Commerciale, Antica e Moderna; Valin, Commentaire sur l'Ordonnance de la Marine, du Mois d'Aout, 1681; Boulay-Paty, Dr. Comm.; Boucher, Institutions au Droit Maritime.

MERCHANT. One whose business it is to buy and sell merchandise; this applies to all persons who habitually trade in merchandise. 1 Watts & S. 469; 2 Salk. 445.
     2. In another sense, it signifies a person who owns ships, and trades, by means of them, with foreign nations, or with the different States of the United States; these are known by the name of shipping merchants. Com. Dig. Merchant, A; Dyer, R. 279 b; Bac. Ab. h.t.
     3. According to an old authority, there are four species of merchants, namely, merchant adventurers, merchant dormant, merchant travellers, and merchant residents. 2 Brownl. 99. Vide, generally, 9 Salk. R. 445; Bac. Ab. h.t.; Com. Dig. h.t.; 1 Bl. Com. 75, 260; 1 Pard. Dr. Com. n. 78