Standard Lemma guide

mercantilism

noun · 4 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.

  • UK: /ˈmɜːkəntɪlɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈmɝkəntɪlɪzəm/
  • US: /ˈmɝkənˌtilˌɪzəm/
  • US: /ˈmɝkənˌtaɪlˌɪzəm/
  • US: /mɝˈkæntɪlɪzəm/
  • CMU ARPABET: M ER0 K AE1 N T AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade, in the manner that a merchant would operate a shop. Typically this model presupposes protectionism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation depends upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of trade is unchangeable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

transactions (sales and purchases) having the objective of supplying commodities (goods and services)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: commerce, commercialism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: transaction, dealing, dealings

Narrower terms: trading, trade, e-commerce, exchange, interchange, initial public offering, IPO, initial offering, commercial enterprise, business enterprise, business, carriage trade, importing, importation, exporting, exportation, marketing, distribution, selling, merchandising, traffic, payment, defrayal, defrayment, evasion, nonpayment

4

noun

Meaning 4

an economic system (Europe in 18th century) to increase a nation's wealth by government regulation of all of the nation's commercial interests

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mercantile system

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: managed economy

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *merks Latin merx Latin mercor Latin mercantem Italian mercante Latin -īlemder. Italian -ile Italian mercantilebor. French mercantilebor. English mercantile Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English mercantilism From mercantile + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

53 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: merkantilizmi — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Armenian: մերկանտիլիզմ (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Asturian: mercantilismu — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Azerbaijani: merkantilizm — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Basque: merkantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Belarusian: меркантылізм (mjerkantylizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Bulgarian: меркантилизъм (merkantilizǎm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Catalan: mercantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Chinese Mandarin: 重商主義 /重商主义 (zhòngshāng zhǔyì) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Czech: merkantilismus — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Danish: merkantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Dutch: mercantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Esperanto: merkantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Estonian: merkantilism — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Finnish: merkantilismi — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • French: mercantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Galician: mercantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Georgian: მერკანტილიზმი (merḳanṭilizmi) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • German: Merkantilismus — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Hebrew: מרקנטיליזם — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Hungarian: merkantilizmus — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Icelandic: merkantílismi — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Indonesian: merkantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Irish: marsantachas — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Italian: mercantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Japanese: 重商主義 (jūshōjugi) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Kazakh: меркантилизм (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Korean: 중상주의 (jungsangjuui) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Kyrgyz: меркантилизм (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Latvian: merkantilisms — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Lithuanian: merkantilizmas — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Macedonian: меркантилизам (merkantilizam) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Malay: merkantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Mongolian: меркантилизм (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Norwegian: merkantilisme — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Persian: سوداگرایی — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Polish: merkantylizm — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Portuguese: mercantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Romanian: mercantilism — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Russian: меркантилизм (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Slovak: merkantilizmus — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Slovene: merkantilizem — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Spanish: mercantilismo — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Swedish: merkantilism — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Tajik: меркантилизм (merkantilizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Tamil: வணிகவாதம் (vaṇikavātam) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Thai: ลัทธิพาณิชยนิยม — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Turkish: merkantilizm — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Turkmen: merkantalizm — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Ukrainian: меркантилізм (merkantylizm) — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Uzbek: merkantilizm — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa trọng thương — the historical economic theory that a nation must always have a positive balance of trade
  • Polish: merkantylizm — the economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation depends upon its supply of capital