Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

mercātūra, ae, f. [mercor], trade, traffic, commerce (class.).

  1. I. Lit.: mercatura autem, si tenuis est, sordida putanda est; sin magna et copiosa, non est admodum vituperanda, Cic. Off. 1, 42, 151: mercaturas facere, to follow the pursuits of trade, id. Verr. 2, 5, 28, § 72.
    1. B. Trop.: ad quos cum tanquam ad mercaturam bonarum artium sis profectus, to the purchase of, etc., Cic. Off. 3, 2, 6: utilitatum, id. N. D. 1, 44, 122.
  2. II. Transf., goods, wares, merchandise (ante-Aug.), Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 51.

mercor, ātus, 1 (archaic form, mercassitur for mercatus fuerit, Inscr. Grut. 512, 20.
Inf. mercarier for mercari, Hor. S. 2, 3, 24), v. dep. n. and a. [id.], to trade, traffic, deal in commodities (absol., Plaut. Merc. prol. 82), to buy, purchase something from a person (cf. nundinor).

  1. I. Lit., constr. with aliquid ab or de aliquo, with abl. or gen. of the price (class.): aliquid ab aliquo, Cic. Off. 1, 42, 150: fundum de pupillo, id. Fl. 20, 46: aliquid tanto pretio, id. Rosc. Am. 46, 133: hortos egregiasque domos, Hor. S. 2, 3, 24: quanti mercatura mullum luxuria? Plin. 9, 18, 31, § 68: hanc (segetem), Juv. 14, 143.
    In part. pres.: mercans, antis, subst., a buyer, purchaser: spem mercantium frustrari, Suet. Aug. 75.
  2. II. Trop.: ego haec officia mercanda vitā puto, to be purchased with life, Cic. Att. 9, 5, 3: amorem muneribus, Prop. 2, 16 (3, 8), 15.
    In pass. signif., to be bought (mostly post-Aug.): jam quidem facta emplastra mercantur, Plin. 34, 11, 25, § 108.
    Part. perf.: mercātus, a, um, bought, purchased: commeatibus mercatis, Sall. Fragm. ap. Non. 138, 12: cultus, Prop. 1, 2, 5: sestertiis centum quinquaginta milibus trullam unam mercatam a matrefamilias, Plin. 37, 2, 10, § 29 (the better reading is mercatā matre, Jan.).