Legal Definitions - mercantile

MERCANTILE

mercantile (mər-kən-til or -til or -tIl), adj. Of or relating to merchants or trading; commercial the mercantile system.

The term mercantile refers to anything related to merchants or trading. It is used to describe commercial activities or systems that involve buying and selling goods or services.

• A mercantile society is one where trade and commerce are the main sources of wealth and power.
• The mercantile class in medieval Europe consisted of merchants and traders who controlled the flow of goods and money.
• The mercantile system was a set of economic policies that aimed to increase a country's wealth by promoting exports and limiting imports.

These examples illustrate how the term mercantile is used to describe different aspects of commercial activities. The first example shows how a society can be characterized as mercantile if trade and commerce are its main sources of wealth. The second example refers to a specific group of people, the mercantile class, who were involved in trading and commerce. The third example describes a specific economic system, the mercantile system, which was based on promoting exports and limiting imports to increase a country's wealth.