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

The punk band the Offspring expressed its admiration by selling bootleg merchandise with the company’s logo. —Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

Target’s Pride Strategy Shift In 2023, Target began to make changes to its Pride merchandise, after the company and its employees became the focus of anti-LGBT+ threats—including confronting store workers, knocking down Pride displays and posting videos on social. —Doug Melville, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024

Verb

And while the league did improve its ratings and merchandising sales, it is still reportedly projected to lose money this year. —Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 23 Oct. 2024

Scotty Frantz, associate manager of merchandising partnerships at the NBA, teased the the Clippers product. —Andrés Buenahora, Variety, 20 Nov. 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