Trade

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /tɹeɪd/

Definitions

1. The exchange of goods, services, or resources between parties, or the occupation requiring specialized skills that one practices professionally
2. The act of exchanging goods or services between individuals or groups, as well as the specific professional activity involving skilled labor or expertise in a particular field
3. An exchange involving goods, services, or commodities conducted for mutual benefit, alongside the professional vocation requiring specialized skills and knowledge

Etymology: The noun that means buying and selling began as a word for a footpath. Its ancestor, Proto-Germanic "*tradō," meant a track or way, and it is related to the Old English verb "tredan," "to tread." A track is worn by repeated treading, so the sense of a beaten path came first and the commercial sense grew out of it. The commercial sense arrived in English through the Hanseatic merchants, the trading league of north German towns whose traders dominated Baltic and North Sea commerce. Middle English borrowed the word from their Middle Low German "trade," meaning track or course, and it came to mean a course of conduct, then a line of business. It displaced the older English word "chaffare," which meant bargaining or buying and selling. The word's relatives still show the original meaning. Icelandic "tröð" means a lane between fences, and Luxembourgish "Tratt" means a step or pace. The Dutch "trade" can mean a path or trail as well as commerce.

Synonyms: commerce, business, exchange, deal, transaction

Antonyms: idleness, inactivity, disinterest, nonparticipation, unemployment