Definition of "merchant" []

• One whose occupation is the wholesale purchase and retail sale of goods for profit. (noun)
• One who runs a retail business; a shopkeeper. (noun)
• Of or relating to merchants, merchandise, or commercial trade: a merchant guild. (adjective)
• Of or relating to the merchant marine: merchant ships. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mr. Robinson's arrival was several years after Gap's 1990s heyday, under former CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler, who now runs J.Crew Group Inc. Mr. Drexler, whose eye for style earned him the nickname "merchant prince," had carried Gap through a period of explosive growth alongside the advent of "business casual" attire."
• "The French accordingly, judging from what they see at home, have a very contemptible idea of the term merchant; and if a foreign traveller of this class should wish to be admitted into good company, let him pass by any other name than that of a marchand or negociant."
• "On another matter, great news from India - the government is considering privatized airports, but using the term merchant airports."