commercial

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kəˈmɜː.ʃəl/, US /kəˈmɝː.ʃəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English commerce + -ial.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Engaged in commerce, trading”: 1598 in Merriam-Webster,^[3] the late 16th century in the SOED,^[4] the 1680s in Etymonline,^[2] and before 1687 in the OED.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as “relating to commerce or traffick”.^[6] Commercial law and commercial treaty are from 1744.^[5] Of products, “prepared for the market, of ordinary trade quality”, often implying impurity, it is from about 1865,^[5] and of art or other work, “done chiefly for profit”, often disparagingly, from 1871.^[2][5] “Paid for by advertising”, of radio or television, is from 1932,^[2][5] and the noun, “an advertisement broadcast on radio or television”, from 1935.^[2][7] Earlier the noun was short for commercial traveller, a travelling salesman, from 1855.^[2][3] A commercial vehicle carrying goods is from 1907.^[5]

Timeline

• 1598 – engaged in commerce.^[3]
• 1744 – commercial law.^[5]
• 1855 – noun, a commercial traveller.^[2]
• 1871 – done for profit.^[2][5]
• 1932 – paid for by advertisements.^[2][5]
• 1935 – noun, a broadcast advertisement.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to commerce or trade.
2. Made or done chiefly to make a profit, sometimes at the expense of quality.
3. Of broadcasting: paid for by advertisers.
4. Of goods: produced in large quantities, often unrefined, for industry.

Noun

1. An advertisement on television or radio.

Word family

• commercially
• commerciality
• infomercial
• anticommercial
• commercialise
• commercialism
• countercommercial
• noncommercial

Related words

• commerce
• commercialize
• precommercial
• merchant
• mercantile

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster