merchants
merchants — 形容詞
- merchantspositive
- more merchantscomparative
- most merchantssuperlative
1. relating to the business of buying and selling goods, especially in large quanti
商業的
與商品買賣有關的
relating to the business of buying and selling goods, especially in large quantities between different countries or regions.
The Watanabe family built their fortune through merchant trade between Japan and Southeast Asia.
渡邊家族靠著日本與東南亞之間的商業貿易累積了財富。
merchant + noun for attributive use
Port cities like Hamburg and Shanghai grew wealthy from merchant shipping routes.
漢堡和上海等港口城市因商業航運路線而繁榮起來。
A merchant bank helped the start-up raise capital for its expansion into Latin America.
一家商業銀行協助這家新創公司籌集資金，以擴張到拉丁美洲市場。
The old merchant quarter still has narrow streets lined with warehouses and trading offices.
舊城區的商業區仍然有狹窄的街道，兩旁是倉庫和貿易辦公室。
- commercial
broader meaning; covers all business activity, not just trade
- trade
used as an adjective only in fixed phrases like 'trade routes'
文法句型
merchant + noun
用法筆記
Attributive only — used before a noun (merchant ship, merchant bank, merchant trade). Not used predicatively (you cannot say 'this trade is merchant').
2. describing ships, crews, or infrastructure that carry goods by sea for commercia
商船的
與商用海運船隻有關的
describing ships, crews, or infrastructure that carry goods by sea for commercial purposes, as distinct from a country's navy.
After retiring from the navy, Théo served on merchant vessels for another ten years.
Théo 從海軍退役後，又在商船上服務了十年。
merchant vessels = ships for commercial cargo
South Korea pledged to modernise its ageing merchant fleet with new ships to rival Chinese operators on Pacific routes.
南韓承諾現代化其老舊的商船艦隊，以新船在太平洋航線上與中國業者競爭。
During the war, many merchant sailors risked their lives transporting supplies across the Atlantic.
戰爭期間，許多商船船員冒著生命危險運送物資橫跨大西洋。
A 2024 EU regulation requires all merchant ships over 300 gross tonnes to carry satellite tracking devices for real-time position monitoring.
2024 年歐盟法規要求所有超過 300 總噸位的商船都必須配備衛星追蹤裝置，以便即時監控船位。
- commercial
broader; can describe any profit-making activity
- civilian
emphasises the contrast with military, but is not limited to ships
- naval
navy-related, the opposite of civilian merchant shipping
文法句型
merchant + noun (nautical)
用法筆記
Almost always combines with nautical nouns: merchant marine, merchant fleet, merchant vessel, merchant sailor. Not used for land-based commerce.
merchants — 名詞
- merchantssingular
- merchantsesplural
1. a person or company that purchases goods in very large quantities and resells th
批發商
從事大宗國際貿易的商人或公司
a person or company that purchases goods in very large quantities and resells them for a profit, typically by trading across national borders.
Aarav worked as a textile merchant, exporting cotton from India to factories in Bangladesh.
Aarav 是一名紡織品批發商，將棉花從印度出口到孟加拉的工廠。
merchant of [specific goods]
The Hanseatic League merchants controlled Baltic Sea trade for more than three centuries.
漢薩同盟的商人在波羅的海控制了長達三百多年的貿易。
historical use: the merchants of [place/organisation]
During the Ming dynasty, Chinese merchants traded silk and porcelain for silver from Spanish colonies.
在明朝時期，中國商人用絲綢和瓷器交換來自西班牙殖民地的白銀。
A grain merchant in Chicago bought the entire wheat harvest from three hundred local farms.
芝加哥的一位穀物批發商買下了三百座當地農場的全部小麥收成。
- trader
broader; can be small or large scale, local or international
- wholesaler
specific to someone who sells to shops, not directly to customers
- dealer
can imply a narrower specialty (e.g. art dealer, arms dealer)
文法句型
a merchant of + goods
merchant in + goods
用法筆記
Use [commodity] merchant (wine merchant, grain merchant, silk merchant) or a merchant of [goods] (a merchant of fine wines). In modern contexts, often replaced by 'trader' or 'wholesaler' for domestic small-scale trade, but still common for international commodity trading.
常見錯誤
2. someone who promotes or is involved in something harmful or unpleasant, used to
販賣者
涉及有害或令人反感事物的人（負面）
someone who promotes or is involved in something harmful or unpleasant, used to express strong disapproval in a dramatic or literary style.
The newspaper called the warlord a merchant of death who sold weapons to both sides of the conflict.
這家報紙稱那位軍閥為死亡販子，因他向衝突雙方出售武器而中飽私囊。
fixed phrase: merchant of death
Online platforms face growing pressure to remove merchants of hate who spread violent extremist content.
網路平台面臨越來越大的壓力，需要移除傳播暴力極端內容的仇恨販子。
merchant of [negative quality]
Dr. Sofia Okafor denounced tobacco giants as merchants of misery who target young people in poor countries.
Sofia Okafor 博士譴責菸草巨頭是苦難販子，鎖定貧窮國家的年輕人。
Critics described the payday lender as a merchant of despair who trapped poor families in debt.
評論家將那家發薪日貸款公司形容為絕望販子，專門讓貧困家庭陷入債務。
- trafficker
stronger legal/criminal connotation; used for drugs, weapons, people
- peddler
can be literal (peddler of drugs) or figurative (peddler of lies), often less dramatic
文法句型
a merchant of + unpleasant thing
用法筆記
This sense is almost always used in the fixed pattern 'a merchant of [something bad]' — e.g. merchant of death, merchant of hate, merchant of misery. It is literary and rhetorical, not neutral description. Do not use it for ordinary criminals or small-scale wrongdoing.
常見錯誤
3. a person who owns or runs a shop that sells goods directly to members of the pub
零售商；店家
直接向消費者銷售商品的店主
a person who owns or runs a shop that sells goods directly to members of the public.
Local merchants on Main Street formed a business association to attract more shoppers to the area.
大街上的當地零售商成立了一個商業協會，以吸引更多購物者到該區域。
common: local merchant
Kemi bought fresh vegetables from the merchant at the corner shop every morning before school.
Kemi 每天上學前都會從街角商店的店家那裡買新鮮蔬菜。
In rural Kenya, small merchants accept payments through M-Pesa on mobile phones instead of cash, reaching customers without bank accounts.
在肯亞鄉村，小型店家透過手機上的 M-Pesa 接受付款，接觸到沒有銀行帳戶的顧客。
The town's Christmas market gave local merchants a chance to sell handmade crafts and baked goods.
鎮上的聖誕市集讓當地店家有了銷售手工藝品和烘焙食品的機會。
- shopkeeper
more specific to a person who runs a physical shop
- retailer
neutral term for any business that sells to the public, from corner shops to large chains
- storekeeper
mainly North American English, similar to shopkeeper
- customer
the buyer rather than the seller
文法句型
local merchant
small merchant
用法筆記
This is the everyday sense used for shopkeepers and small business owners. A wine merchant in this sense is a shop that sells wine to the public (not a large-scale importer). Context makes the scale clear.
常見錯誤
merchants — 動詞
- merchantspresent simple I / you / we / they
- merchantses3rd person singular
- merchantsing-ing form
- merchantsedpast simple
1. to buy and sell a particular type of goods as a business activity.
買賣
以商業方式買進賣出某種商品
to buy and sell a particular type of goods as a business activity.
The Cretan family firm has merchanted single-estate olive oil to buyers in Venice and Trieste since the 1890s.
這家克里特家族企業自 1890 年代以來，一直將單一莊園橄欖油販售給威尼斯和的里雅斯特的買家。
transitive: merchant + goods
Before the railroad reached Nebraska in the 1860s, local traders merchanted grain and cattle between settlements along the Platte River.
在 1860 年代鐵路抵達內布拉斯加之前，當地商人在普拉特河沿岸分散的聚落之間買賣穀物和牛隻。
For six generations Kerala villagers merchanted dried fish inland to Mysore spice plantations for rice and black pepper.
連續六代，喀拉拉村民將魚乾運往內陸的邁索爾香料種植園，換取稻米和黑胡椒。
During the 1910s rubber boom, a Belgian firm merchanted wild rubber from the Amazon to tyre factories in Akron, Ohio.
在 1910 年代的橡膠熱潮中，一家比利時公司將亞馬遜的野生橡膠販運到俄亥俄州阿克倫的輪胎工廠。
文法句型
merchant + goods
用法筆記
Archaic or very formal in modern English. 'Merchant' as a verb is rarely used in everyday speech; 'trade in', 'deal in', or 'sell' are much more common alternatives. You may encounter it in historical writing or formal business descriptions.
常見錯誤
2. to operate as a merchant, carrying out the activity of buying and selling goods
經商
從事買賣商品以獲利的商業活動
to operate as a merchant, carrying out the activity of buying and selling goods for profit.
For thirty years the Farooq brothers merchanted in hand-woven carpets from a dusty warehouse near the port of Peshawar.
三十年來，Farooq 兄弟在白沙瓦港附近一個灰塵滿布的倉庫裡經銷手工編織地毯。
intransitive: merchant in + goods/place
In the 1660s, Jan van der Meer merchanted in Istanbul's bazaars, selling Delftware and herring for Anatolian silk and spices.
1660 年代，Jan van der Meer 在伊斯坦堡的市集中經商，出售台夫特陶器和鯡魚，換取安納托利亞的絲綢和香料。
In the 1700s, European traders merchanted along the Gold Coast, exchanging cotton cloth for gold dust at Elmina fort.
在十八世紀，歐洲商人沿著黃金海岸經商，在埃爾米納堡以棉布換取金沙。
Every winter, Tuareg nomads merchanted across the Sahara, trading rock salt from Taoudenni for millet and dates from southern oases.
每年冬季，圖阿雷格遊牧民族穿越撒哈拉沙漠經商，將陶代尼的岩鹽運往南方，換取綠洲出產的小米和椰棗。
文法句型
merchant in + place
merchant + prepositional phrase
用法筆記
This intransitive sense (to act as a merchant) is even rarer than the transitive sense. Both are best suited to historical narrative or deliberately formal prose. In modern English, 'run a business', 'be a merchant', or 'trade' are preferred.