commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmä-də-tē 

plural commodities

1

: an economic good: such as

a

: a product of agriculture or mining

agricultural commodities like grain and corn

b

: an article of commerce especially when delivered for shipment

reported the damaged commodities to officials

c

: a mass-produced unspecialized product

commodity chemicals

commodity memory chips

2

a

: something useful or valued

that valuable commodity, patience

also : thing, entity

b

: convenience, advantage

… the many commodities incidental to the life of a public office …

—Charles Lamb

3

: a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (such as brand name) other than price

4

: one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market

… stars as individuals and as commodities of the film industry.

—Film Quarterly

5

obsolete : quantity, lot

Synonyms of commodity

• object
• entity
• substance
• reality

Examples of commodity in a Sentence

agricultural commodities like grain and corn

Oil is a commodity in high demand.

Patience is a rare commodity.

Recent Examples on the Web

Vested with the responsibility of finding havens for some of the county’s most fragile, lonely people, often without relatives or those able to care for them, Hernandez has been accused of treating them like commodities. —Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026

Trading commodities, futures, and options involves a substantial risk of loss. —Usa Today, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026

Often reduced to a greeting or a commodity, aloha is, in practice, a way of living—rooted in deep love, truth, and connection. —Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Artforum, 2 Apr. 2026

The canal’s prolonged closure caused the price of oil, tea and other commodities to spike for European consumers, who depended on the shipping shortcut for goods from Asia. —Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English commoditee, from Anglo-French, from Latin commoditat-, commoditas, from commodus

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing commodity

• hot commodity

Rhymes for commodity

• oddity

Kids Definition

commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmäd-ət-ē 

plural commodities

1

: a product of agriculture or mining

2

: an article that is bought and sold in commerce

Legal Definition

commodity

noun

com·​mod·​i·​ty kə-ˈmä-də-tē 

plural commodities

: a class of economic goods

especially : an item of merchandise (as soybeans) whose price is the basis of futures trading