Standard Lemma guide

commodity

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /kəˈmɑdəti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəˈmɒdəti/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Scotland: /kəˈmɔdɪte/
  • Scotland: /-tɪ/
  • Scotland: /-ti/
  • rhymes with -ɒdɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 M AA1 D AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Anything movable (a good) that is bought and sold.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something useful or valuable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Raw materials, agricultural and other primary products as objects of large-scale trading in specialized exchanges.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

Examples

  • The price of crude oil is determined in continuous trading between professional players in World's many commodities exchanges.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Undifferentiated goods characterized by a low profit margin and (usually) fungibility, as distinguished from branded products not wholly fungible.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, marketing

Examples

  • Although they were once in the forefront of consumer electronics, the calculators have become a mere commodity.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Anything which has both a use value and an exchange value.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Marxism, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Convenience; usefulness, suitability.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Self-interest; personal convenience or advantage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

articles of commerce

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trade good, good

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: artifact, artefact

Narrower terms: basic, staple, consumer goods, drygoods, soft goods, entrant, export, exportation, fancy goods, fungible, future, import, importation, merchandise, ware, product, middling, shopping, sporting goods, worldly possession, worldly good, salvage

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin com- Proto-Indo-European *med- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Italic *medos Latin modus Latin commodus Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin commoditāsder. Anglo-Norman commoditeebor. Middle English commoditee English commodity Inherited from Middle English commoditee, borrowed from Anglo-Norman commoditee, from Latin commoditās.

Across languages

Translations

201 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mall — anything movable traded
  • Southern Altai: табар (tabar) — anything movable traded
  • Arabic: بِضَاعَة (biḍāʕa) — anything movable traded
  • Arabic: بَضَائِع (baḍāʔiʕ) — anything movable traded
  • Arabic: سِلْعَة (silʕa) — anything movable traded
  • Arabic: سِلَع (silaʕ) — anything movable traded
  • Arabic: مَتَاع (matāʕ) — anything movable traded
  • Armenian: ապրանք (aprankʻ) — anything movable traded
  • Azerbaijani: mal — anything movable traded
  • Azerbaijani: əmtəə — anything movable traded
  • Bashkir: тауар (tawar) — anything movable traded
  • Belarusian: тава́р (tavár) — anything movable traded
  • Belarusian: праду́кт (pradúkt) — anything movable traded
  • Bengali: পণ্য (ponno) — anything movable traded
  • Bulgarian: сто́ка (stóka) — anything movable traded
  • Bulgarian: това́р (továr) — anything movable traded
  • Burmese: ကုန် (kun) — anything movable traded
  • Burmese: ကုန်ပစ္စည်း (kunpaccany:) — anything movable traded
  • Catalan: mercaderia — anything movable traded
  • Chinese Mandarin: 商品 (shāngpǐn) — anything movable traded
  • Chinese Mandarin: 貨物 /货物 (huòwù) — anything movable traded
  • Chinese Mandarin: 產品 /产品 (chǎnpǐn) — anything movable traded
  • Chinese Mandarin: 製品 /制品 (zhìpǐn) — anything movable traded
  • Chuvash: тавар (tavar) — anything movable traded
  • Czech: zboží — anything movable traded
  • Czech: produkt — anything movable traded
  • Danish: handelsvare — anything movable traded
  • Danish: vare — anything movable traded
  • Dutch: waar — anything movable traded
  • Dutch: goederen — anything movable traded
  • Esperanto: varo — anything movable traded
  • Estonian: kaup — anything movable traded
  • Finnish: hyödyke — anything movable traded
  • Finnish: tavara — anything movable traded
  • Finnish: kauppatavara — anything movable traded
  • French: produit — anything movable traded
  • French: bien — anything movable traded
  • French: marchandise — anything movable traded
  • Galician: mercadoría — anything movable traded
  • Georgian: საქონელი (sakoneli) — anything movable traded
  • German: Ware — anything movable traded
  • German: Gut — anything movable traded
  • German: Handelsgut — anything movable traded
  • German: Handelsware — anything movable traded
  • Greek: εμπόρευμα (empórevma) — anything movable traded
  • Greek: αγαθά (agathá) — anything movable traded
  • Ancient Greek: φορτία (phortía) — anything movable traded
  • Hebrew: סְחוֹרָה (s'khorá) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: वस्तु (vastu) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: जिंस (jins) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: माल (māl) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: सामान (sāmān) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: पण्य (paṇya) — anything movable traded
  • Hindi: उत्पाद (utpād) — anything movable traded
  • Hungarian: áru — anything movable traded
  • Hungarian: árucikk — anything movable traded
  • Hungarian: portéka — anything movable traded
  • Icelandic: vara — anything movable traded
  • Icelandic: vörur — anything movable traded
  • Ido: komercajo — anything movable traded
  • Ido: varo — anything movable traded
  • Indonesian: barang — anything movable traded
  • Indonesian: barang-barang — anything movable traded
  • Irish: earra — anything movable traded
  • Italian: prodotto — anything movable traded
  • Italian: bene — anything movable traded
  • Italian: merce — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 商品 (shōhin) — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 品 (shina) — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 品物 (shinamono) — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 物品 (buppin) — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 財 (zai) — anything movable traded
  • Japanese: 商材 (shōzai) — anything movable traded
  • Kazakh: тауар (tauar) — anything movable traded
  • Khmer: ទំនិញ (tumnɨñ) — anything movable traded
  • Khmer: អីវ៉ាន់ (ʼəyvan) — anything movable traded
  • Korean: 상품 (sangpum) — anything movable traded
  • Korean: 물품 (mulpum) — anything movable traded
  • Korean: 물건 (mulgeon) — anything movable traded
  • Northern Kurdish: kelûpel — anything movable traded
  • Kyrgyz: товар (tovar) — anything movable traded
  • Lao: ສິນຄ້າ (sin khā) — anything movable traded
  • Lao: ໂພຄະພັນ (phō kha phan) — anything movable traded
  • Lao: ເຂົ້າຂອງ (khao khǭng) — anything movable traded
  • Lao: ສິນ (sin) — anything movable traded
  • Latin: merx — anything movable traded
  • Latvian: prece — anything movable traded
  • Lithuanian: prẽkė — anything movable traded
  • Macedonian: стока (stoka) — anything movable traded
  • Malay: barang — anything movable traded
  • Malay: barangan — anything movable traded
  • Māori: taongahoko — anything movable traded
  • Mongolian: бараа (baraa) — anything movable traded
  • Mongolian: таваар (tavaar) — anything movable traded
  • Norwegian Bokmål: vare — anything movable traded
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gods — anything movable traded
  • Old East Slavic: товаръ (tovarŭ) — anything movable traded
  • Pashto: متاع (matā') — anything movable traded
  • Iranian Persian: مَتاع (matâ') — anything movable traded
  • Iranian Persian: مال (mâl) — anything movable traded
  • Iranian Persian: کالا (kâlâ) — anything movable traded
  • Iranian Persian: جِنْس (jens) — anything movable traded
  • Iranian Persian: اَجْناس (ajnâs) — anything movable traded
  • Polish: towar — anything movable traded
  • Polish: dobro — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: comodidade — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: mercadoria — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: produto — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: bem — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: bem de consumo — anything movable traded
  • Portuguese: artigo de consumo — anything movable traded
  • Punjabi: ਜਿਨਸ (jinas) — anything movable traded
  • Romanian: marfă — anything movable traded
  • Romanian: articol de consum — anything movable traded
  • Romanian: obiect de uz — anything movable traded
  • Russian: това́р (továr) — anything movable traded
  • Russian: проду́кт (prodúkt) — anything movable traded
  • Russian: добро́ (dobró) — anything movable traded
  • Russian: бла́го (blágo) — anything movable traded
  • Scottish Gaelic: bathar — anything movable traded
  • Serbo-Croatian: ро̏ба — anything movable traded
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̀бро — anything movable traded
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȍba — anything movable traded
  • Serbo-Croatian: dòbro — anything movable traded
  • Slovak: tovar — anything movable traded
  • Slovene: blago — anything movable traded
  • Spanish: bien — anything movable traded
  • Spanish: artículo de consumo — anything movable traded
  • Spanish: mercancía — anything movable traded
  • Swedish: handelsvara — anything movable traded
  • Swedish: vara — anything movable traded
  • Swedish: gods — anything movable traded
  • Tagalog: kalakal — anything movable traded
  • Tajik: мол (mol) — anything movable traded
  • Tatar: тауар (tawwar) — anything movable traded
  • Thai: สินค้า (sǐn-káa) — anything movable traded
  • Thai: โภคภัณฑ์ (pôok-ká-pan) — anything movable traded
  • Turkish: mal — anything movable traded
  • Turkish: emtia — anything movable traded
  • Turkish: eşya — anything movable traded
  • Ottoman Turkish: مال (mal) — anything movable traded
  • Turkmen: haryt — anything movable traded
  • Turkmen: harytlar — anything movable traded
  • Ukrainian: това́р (továr) — anything movable traded
  • Ukrainian: проду́кт (prodúkt) — anything movable traded
  • Urdu: مال (māl) — anything movable traded
  • Urdu: سامان (sāmān) — anything movable traded
  • Urdu: جِنْس (jins) — anything movable traded
  • Urdu: اَجْناس (ajnās) — anything movable traded
  • Uyghur: تاۋار (tawar) — anything movable traded
  • Uyghur: مال (mal) — anything movable traded
  • Uzbek: tovar — anything movable traded
  • Uzbek: mol — anything movable traded
  • Vietnamese: thương phẩm — anything movable traded
  • Vietnamese: hàng hoá — anything movable traded
  • Yakut: табаар (tabaar) — anything movable traded
  • Yiddish: סכוירע (skhoyre) — anything movable traded
  • Yiddish: סחורה (skhoyre) — anything movable traded
  • Finnish: avu — something useful
  • Finnish: hyödyke — something useful
  • Galician: ben — something useful
  • German: Gut — something useful
  • Hebrew: מְצְרָךְ (mitsrákh) — something useful
  • Italian: bene — something useful
  • Portuguese: comodidade — something useful
  • Portuguese: bem — something useful
  • Russian: добро́ (dobró) — something useful
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̀бро — something useful
  • Serbo-Croatian: dòbro — something useful
  • Czech: zboží — primary product as object of trade
  • Dutch: grondstof — primary product as object of trade
  • Dutch: verbruiksgoed — primary product as object of trade
  • Finnish: raaka-aine — primary product as object of trade
  • Finnish: hyödyke — primary product as object of trade
  • Galician: materia prima — primary product as object of trade
  • German: Rohstoff — primary product as object of trade
  • German: Verbrauchsgut — primary product as object of trade
  • German: Konsumware — primary product as object of trade
  • German: unverarbeitete Ware — primary product as object of trade
  • Indonesian: komoditas — primary product as object of trade
  • Italian: materia prima — primary product as object of trade
  • Malay: komoditi — primary product as object of trade
  • Portuguese: commodity — primary product as object of trade
  • Portuguese: matéria-prima — primary product as object of trade
  • Serbo-Croatian: ро̏ба — primary product as object of trade
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȍba — primary product as object of trade
  • Spanish: producto básico — primary product as object of trade
  • Spanish: bien homogéneo — primary product as object of trade
  • Spanish: commodity — primary product as object of trade
  • Spanish: mercancía homogénea — primary product as object of trade
  • Tagalog: kalakal — primary product as object of trade
  • Finnish: massahyödyke — undifferentiated good
  • French: bien de consommation courante — undifferentiated good
  • Galician: artigo de consumo — undifferentiated good
  • German: Billigware — undifferentiated good
  • German: Massenware — undifferentiated good
  • German: Standardware — undifferentiated good
  • German: No-Name-Produkt — undifferentiated good
  • Portuguese: bem de consumo — undifferentiated good
  • Portuguese: artigo de consumo — undifferentiated good
  • Romanian: bun de consum — undifferentiated good
Real reading context

commodity in complete knowledge articles