merchandise

1 of 2

noun

mer·​chan·​dise ˈmər-chən-ˌdīz 

-ˌdīs

1

: the commodities or goods that are bought and sold in business : wares

sells a variety of spring merchandise

2

archaic : the occupation of a merchant : trade

merchandise

2 of 2

verb

mer·​chan·​dise ˈmər-chən-ˌdīz 

variants or less commonly merchandize

merchandised also merchandized; merchandising also merchandizing

transitive verb

1

: to buy and sell in business

carpets from Iran, India, or Taiwan are merchandised along with Italian leather goods and Spanish ceramics

—Irving Kolodin

2

: to promote for or as if for sale

merchandise a movie star

intransitive verb

archaic : to carry on commerce : trade

merchandiser noun

Synonyms

Noun

• commodities
• goods
• wares

Verb

• deal (in)
• market
• put up
• retail
• sell
• vend

Examples of merchandise in a Sentence

Noun

The merchandise will arrive by truck at noon.

He's developed his own brand of merchandise.

Verb

The political candidates are being merchandised to the public.

the now-familiar practice of stores merchandising goods at dramatically lower prices on the day after Thanksgiving

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Model and media personality Kendall Jenner made stops in Tucson, Tempe and Phoenix while partying it up for The Alumni Collection, a line that features a bunch of merchandise with the 818 logo across the front, which dropped at 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday, Sept. 17. —Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2024

Most recently the Trump campaign has been selling t-shirts with a similar aesthetic as the Taylor Swift Eras Tour merchandise. —Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 15 Sep. 2024

Verb

Average revenue per unit for coal freight was up a solid 39% between 2020 and 2023, while intermodal was up 22% and merchandise up 14%. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2024

The audit also found the retailer made cash distributions to its owners of over $1 million in 2022 and $790,000 for the year through November 2023 — even as the business owed millions in unpaid royalties to U-M and millions more to merchandise vendors. —Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 10 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English marchaundise, from Anglo-French marchandise, from marcheant

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

merchandise

1 of 2 noun

mer·​chan·​dise ˈmər-chən-ˌdīz 

-ˌdīs

: the goods that are bought and sold in trade

merchandise

2 of 2 verb

ˈmər-chən-ˌdīz

merchandised; merchandising

: to buy and sell : trade

especially : to try to improve sales of goods or services by attractive presentation and publicity

merchandiser noun