v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Amerced p. pr. & vb. n. Amercing. ] [ OF. amercier, fr. a merci at the mercy of, liable to a punishment. See Mercy. ] 1. To punish by a pecuniary penalty, the amount of which is not fixed by law, but left to the discretion of the court; as, the court amerced the criminal in the sum of one hundred dollars. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The penalty or fine may be expressed without a preposition, or it may be introduced by in, with, or of. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To punish, in general; to mulct. [ 1913 Webster ]

Millions of spirits for his fault amerced
Of Heaven. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shall by him be amerced with penance due. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Liable to be amerced. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. amerciment. ] The infliction of a penalty at the discretion of the court; also, a mulct or penalty thus imposed. It differs from a fine, in that the latter is, or was originally, a fixed and certain sum prescribed by statute for an offense; but an amercement is arbitrary. Hence, the act or practice of affeering. [ See Affeer. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, in old books, is written amerciament. [ 1913 Webster ]

Amercement royal, a penalty imposed on an officer for a misdemeanor in his office. Jacobs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who amerces. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. amerciamentum. ] Same as Amercement. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A volatile liquid, C4H9.SH, having a strong odor like that of a skunk; also called butanethiol. All three isomers, normal, sec-, and tert-butanethiol possess the skunk odor. [ PJC ]

n. (Formerly accented on the second syllable.) [ F. commerce, L. commercium; com- + merx, mercis, merchandise. See Merchant. ] 1. The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; esp. the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic. [ 1913 Webster ]

The public becomes powerful in proportion to the opulence and extensive commerce of private men. Hume. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [ Bunyan ] wiser. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sexual intercourse. W. Montagu. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A round game at cards, in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade. Hoyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chamber of commerce. See Chamber.

Syn. -- Trade; traffic; dealings; intercourse; interchange; communion; communication. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Commerced p. pr. & vb. n. Commercing. ] [ Cf. F. commercer, fr. LL. commerciare. ] 1. To carry on trade; to traffic. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Beware you commerce not with bankrupts. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hold intercourse; to commune. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commercing with himself. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Musicians . . . taught the people in angelic harmonies to commerce with heaven. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Nav.) A very fast, unarmored, lightly armed vessel designed to capture or destroy merchant vessels of an enemy. Not being intended to fight, they may be improvised from fast passenger steamers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ Cf. F. commercial. ] Of or pertaining to commerce; carrying on or occupied with commerce or trade; mercantile; as, commercial advantages; commercial relations. “Princely commercial houses.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commercial college, a school for giving instruction in commercial knowledge and business. --
Commercial law. See under Law. --
Commercial note paper, a small size of writing paper, usually about 5 by 71/2 or 8 inches. --
Commercial paper, negotiable paper given in due course of business. It includes bills of exchange, promissory notes, bank checks, etc. --
Commercial traveler, an agent of a wholesale house who travels from town to town to solicit orders.

Syn. -- See Mercantile. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as commercialization. [ Brit. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. same as commercialize. [ Brit. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The commercial spirit or method. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the act or process of making something commercial in character. See commercialize. [ Also spelled commercialisation. ]
Syn. -- . [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. to make something commercial in character, either by placing it for sale on the open market, or by emphasizing its profit-making aspects; as, the Olympics have been excessively commercialized. [ Also spelled commercialise. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. organized principally for financial gain. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having its focus changed from non-commercial to commercial; as, Christmas has become a commercialized spectacle.
Syn. -- commercialised. [ PJC ]

adv. In a commercial manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Chem.) A gaseous substance (C2H5.SH) used as an odorant in natural gas and propane to facilitate detection and serve as a warning of leaks. [ PJC ]

n. (Chem.) The mercury salt of fulminic acid (Hg(CNO)2), called also mercury fulminate. It is prepared as gray crystals, and is used primarily in detonators for detonating high explosives, such as dynamite or TNT. [ PJC ]

interj. [ F. grand-merci. See Grand, and Mercy. ] A word formerly used to express thankfulness, with surprise; many thanks. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gramercy, Mammon, said the gentle knight. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Gramercy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prob. fr. D. hemel heaven, canopy, tester (akin to G. himmel, and perh. also to E. heaven) + E. cloth; or perh. a corruption of hamper cloth. ] The cloth which covers a coach box. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Commerce that involves transportation of articles of commerce across state lines. [ U.S. ] [ PJC ]

n. The governmental commision charged with making and enforcing regulations concerning interstate commerce. [ U. S. ] [ PJC ]

a. (Astron.) Between the planet Mercury and the sun; -- as, the hypothetical Vulcan is intramercurial. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. mercabilis, fr. mercari to trade, traffic, buy. See Merchant. ] Capable of being bought or sold. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. mercantile, It. mercantile, fr. L. mercans, -antis, p. pr. of mercari to traffic. See Merchant. ] Of or pertaining to merchants, or the business of merchants; having to do with trade, or the buying and selling of commodities; commercial. [ 1913 Webster ]

The expedition of the Argonauts was partly mercantile, partly military. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mercantile agency, an agency for procuring information of the standing and credit of merchants in different parts of the country, for the use of dealers who sell to them. --
Mercantile marine, the persons and vessels employed in commerce, taken collectively. --
Mercantile paper, the notes or acceptances given by merchants for goods bought, or received on consignment; drafts on merchants for goods sold or consigned. McElrath. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Mercantile, Commercial. Commercial is the wider term, being sometimes used to embrace mercantile. In their stricter use, commercial relates to the shipping, freighting, forwarding, and other business connected with the commerce of a country (whether external or internal), that is, the exchange of commodities; while mercantile applies to the sale of merchandise and goods when brought to market. As the two employments are to some extent intermingled, the two words are often interchanged. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Mercaptan + aldehyde. ] (Chem.) Any one of a series of compounds of mercaptans with aldehydes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. NL. mercurius mercury + L. captans, p. pr. of captare to seize, v. intens. fr. capere. ] (Chem.) Any one of series of compounds having an -SH radical attached to a carbon atom, also considered as hydrosulphides of alcohol radicals, in composition resembling the alcohols, but containing sulphur in place of oxygen, and hence called also the sulphur alcohols. In general, they are colorless liquids having a strong, repulsive, garlic odor. The name is specifically applied to ethyl mercaptan, C2H5SH. So called from its avidity for mercury, and other metals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A compound of mercaptan formed by replacing its sulphur hydrogen by a metal; as, potassium mercaptide, C2H5SK. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. mercatus : cf. It. mercato. See Market. ] Market; trade. [ Obs. ] Bp. Sprat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It. See Merchant. ] A foreign trader. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

See under Chart, and see Mercator's projection, under Projection. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. mercatura commerce. ] Commerce; traffic; trade. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Amerce. ] To subject to fine or amercement; to mulct; to amerce. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Mercenary. ] (Zool.) The quahog. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mercenary. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a mercenary manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being mercenary; venality. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. mercenarie, F. mercenaire, fr. L. mercenarius, fr. merces wages, reward. See Mercy. ] 1. Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Moved primarily by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

For God forbid I should my papers blot
With mercenary lines, with servile pen. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Venal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mercenaries One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mercier, fr. L. merx, mercis, wares, merchandise. See Merchant. ] Originally, a dealer in any kind of goods or wares; now restricted to a dealer in textile fabrics, as silks or woolens. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. -ized p. pr. & vb. n. -izing ] [ From (John) Mercer (1791-1866), an English calico printer who introduced the process + -ize. ] To treat (cotton fiber or fabrics) with a solution of caustic alkali. Such treatment causes the fiber to shrink in length and become stronger and more receptive of dyes. If the yarn or cloth is kept under tension during the process, it assumes a silky luster. -- Mer`cer*i*za"tion n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. The business of a mercer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mercerie. ] The trade of mercers; the goods in which a mercer deals. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ F. marchander. See Merchant. ] To traffic. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Such as can be used or transferred as merchandise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. marchandise, OF. marcheandise. ] 1. The objects of commerce; whatever is usually bought or sold in trade, or market, or by merchants; wares; goods; commodities. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or business of trading; trade; traffic. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Merchandised p. pr. & vb. n. Merchandising ] To trade; to carry on commerce. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make merchandise of; to buy and sell. “Love is merchandised.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]