Emporos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A trader or merchant, often involved in the buying and selling of goods
2. An individual engaged in commerce, particularly in antiquity, specializing in various products
3. A person who operates within economic systems as a facilitator of trade and markets

Etymology: Greek "emporos" was built from "en," meaning "in," and "poros," meaning "passage" or "way." Its literal sense was roughly "one who goes in," a traveller who journeyed into a place. Homer's "Odyssey" already uses the term for traders who sailed from port to port, so a merchant was defined by the crossing rather than by the goods. That origin fits the work itself, since trade in the Aegean meant sea voyages. The "poros" root also gave Greek words for a ford or a way through, and it is related to English "pore," a small passage through skin. The Greek market, "emporion," comes from the same stem, so the place where goods changed hands took its name from the people who arrived there.

Synonyms: merchant, trader, dealer, vendor, shopkeeper

Antonyms: buyer, customer, consumer, client, purchaser