Mercantile spirit. What does the word mercantile person mean?
In the modern world, commercialism is inherent in most people. Everything around is literally saturated with it. The development of a market economy, instead of the spiritual and moral growth of a person, contributes to the widespread spread of commercialism and cynicism. Each of us knows that being mercantile is bad and ugly, this is one of the negative personality traits. But not everyone understands exactly what commercialism means in simple words and how it manifests itself.
Content:
Definition
Mercantility (from the French and Italian “mercantile” - trading, selfish)- this is a personal quality of a person associated with petty prudence, excessive and groundless desire to obtain benefits at any cost, excessive stinginess, practicality and self-interest.
Synonyms for this concept are greed, love of money, money-grubbing, huckstering, selfishness, etc.
The word “mercantilism” came to us in the middle of the 19th century from France, where its original meaning was different and did not have a negative connotation. The mercantile system in the French explanatory dictionary at that time was interpreted as “expansion of the circle of foreign trade at the expense of other nations.” By the beginning of the twentieth century, mercantilism acquired another meaning. People who are stingy, petty, calculating, selfish, and overly practical began to be called mercantile. The expressions mercantile spirit, mercantile calculation, and mercantile interests have the same meaning.
Reasons for commercialism:
- Basic parental attitudes, upbringing, which is based on the rule “you give me, I give you” to satisfy one’s own needs;
- Current laws of the modern market system.
Important! Hiding under the masks of pragmatism, prudence and prudence, a mercantile person tries to present his aspirations and desires as the result of fair remuneration for certain services and actions, his merits.
How to calculate such a personality?
There are many mercantile people among both men and women. Although there is an opinion that commercialism is inherent in the female sex to a greater extent due to differences in the purpose and functions that men and women perform.
Traditionally, in every family, the man is the head of the family, he is the breadwinner and must provide for his wife and children. A woman is the keeper of the home, she is used to being looked after and wooed, and given expensive gifts in exchange for her external beauty. These rules and principles that underlie our society are a kind of prejudice.
- Constant desire to find a better paying job. A mercantile person always believes that his work is not sufficiently rewarded and even if his current job is completely suitable for him, he will always want his salary level to be higher;
- Girls often value in young people not their intelligence and spiritual qualities, but their wealth and wealth, and strive to receive as many expensive gifts as possible from their lovers;
- Inability to show warmth, care, tender feelings and compassion towards another person, to provide any assistance on a free, selfless basis, to follow the fundamental life rule of “bash on bash”;
- Constantly showing interest in the financial situation of others;
- Planning all goals and realizing dreams are accompanied by huge resource costs;
- Constant complaints about lack of money, whining about financial difficulties.
- Inability to be selfless and show unconditional love;
- The desire to extract benefit from any situation or in any interaction with people and receive benefit, profit, benefits;
- Mercantile people only talk about where to get money;
- Selfishness;
- Excessive economy.
- Hatred of selflessness.
Important! The Orthodox faith considers such a personality quality as commercialism to be the gravest sinful passion and calls it the desire to profit from someone else’s property.
Advantages and disadvantages
It is believed that commercialism is a negative personality trait, since a mercantile person is a petty member of society, preoccupied with material gain. But don't rush to conclusions. This quality also has its own positive sides:
- Such people value their time very much and will not waste their day on useless things and doing nothing;
- Having an entrepreneurial spirit, the ability to create money from everything;
- The ability to say “no”, these are people with strong character and impenetrability, who will not just fulfill countless requests from insolent relatives;
- Such people always keep under control all events in the country’s economic life; they are the first to read news about the upcoming crisis, devaluation and impending redenomination of the national currency;
- Love for a rich life, for others they feel sorry for even a ruble, for their loved ones - they don’t feel sorry for anything and nothing is impossible.
Disadvantages of commercialism:
- No one wants to be friends with a mercantile person because of his greed;
- Difficulties in finding a life partner;
- Pointless hoarding, following the principle of “money for money’s sake”;
- Limited interests;
- Problems and mental illnesses and disorders.
Despite the considerable advantages of this personal quality, no one likes mercantile people; they are outcasts from society.
Why is commercialism dangerous?
The desire for profit and the inability to show compassion are dangerous mental disorders. The worst thing is if a person completely denies his commercialism. Since childhood, such people have the confidence in their minds that everyone around them owes them, and in adulthood only working with a psychologist can help them get rid of this. A person can become obsessed with money. He comes to the conclusion that he can do anything for the sake of money, even murder, as they say, “and sell his own mother.” Constant thoughts about profit and excessive saving lead to insomnia and diseases of the nervous system. In conversations with friends and family, the only thing a mercantile person shows interest in is money matters. If you ask him for something, he immediately wonders what he will get for it.
There are cases when, against the backdrop of the desire to take possession of the inheritance as quickly as possible, people go crazy and come up with schemes to quickly send their relatives to the next world and get the family property.
Advice! Try not to have any relationships with materialistic people. And if you have such an opportunity and desire, then help them get rid of this trait by gently talking to them about such a sensitive topic or signing up for a voluntary consultation with a psychologist.
Commercialism is the tendency to profit from any life situation, overstepping all laws and regulations of society.
The modern world tells us that it is convenient to be mercantile, since we cannot live without money now. But do not forget that no amount of money can buy trust, the love of loved ones and your own health. In the pursuit of profit and excessive savings, it is very easy to overlook and miss the most important things in life - family, friends and a good job.
MERCANTILITY
mercant And flattery
Distraction noun by value adj.: mercantile (2*).
Efremova. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what MERCANTILITY is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- MERCANTILITY in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
- excessive petty prudence, stinginess, extreme frugality, turning into ... - MERCANTILITY in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(from French and Italian mercantile - mercenary, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; ... - MERCANTILITY in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
(from the French mercantile - merchant, selfish, from the Italian mercante - merchant), self-interest, prudence, ... - MERCANTILITY in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- MERCANTILITY
(from French and Italian mercantile - huckstering, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering... - MERCANTILITY in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MERCANTILITY (from French and Italian mercantile - merchant, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; ... - MERCANTILITY in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, commercialism, ... - MERCANTILITY
self-interest, greed, self-interest, mercantilism, unselfishness, prudence, self-interest, selfishness, love of money, ... - MERCANTILITY in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
and. Distraction noun by value adj.: mercantile... - MERCANTILITY in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
commercialism,... - MERCANTILITY in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
commercialism... - MERCANTILITY in the Spelling Dictionary:
commercialism,... - MERCANTILITY in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
(from French and Italian mercantile - merchant, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; ... - MERCANTILITY in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
- MERCANTILITY in the Large Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
and. distracted noun according to adj. mercantile... - LEONTY (LEBEDINSKY) in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox encyclopedia "TREE". Leonty (Lebedinsky) (1822 - 1893), Metropolitan of Moscow. A man of great personal charm, a highly educated mind... - RESKIN in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
I (John Ruskin) - famous English art historian, moralist and public figure; genus. in 1819; I traveled a lot when I was young... - MERCANTILE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
aya, oh, flax, flax Excessively calculating, pursuing personal material gain. Commercialism is a property... - MERCANTILE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -th, -oe; -flax, -linen (book). Overly calculating, huckstering. M. spirit. II noun commercialism, -and... - RESKIN in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
(John Ruskin) ? famous English art historian, moralist and public figure; genus. in 1819; I traveled a lot when I was young and... - Selfishness in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
mercantilism, commercialism, self-interest, selfishness, ... - LOVE OF AVERAGE in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
greed, greed, commercialism, unselfishness, ... - SELF-SELF in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
greed, greed, self-interest, mercantilism, commercialism, self-interest, ...
Often on forums (and in real life) you can come across people, mostly young, who are interested in what the word “mercantile” means. The meaning of this word is easy to explain: from Italian and French it is translated as selfish, huckstering, calculating, petty. Just 25-30 years ago, meeting mercantile people in our country was almost impossible. Probably, Soviet upbringing and the imposed belief that all people are equal had an effect. However, that’s how it happened. Today, every person has a lot of opportunities to become richer and more successful, but in those days, in order to be rich, they had to be born, that is, to be the heir of some statesman or the descendant of a noble person who had not lost his fortune.
For a man from the working class, the path to luxury was barred. But no one complained, everyone worked, earned an honest living, and few even suspected that interpersonal relationships could be built based on personal self-interest. Moreover, any more or less mercantile person was despised and mocked. It’s enough to even remember the hero Savely Kramarov in the old Soviet comedy “Big Change”. Of course, he worked just like everyone else, but for the sake of an extra penny he was ready, even on a dare, to hold a large, heavy bottle of water as long as he had enough strength.
Today the situation has changed radically, and a mercantile person is no longer considered an outcast of society. On the contrary, the tendency to trade is actively encouraged, because it is believed that only by knowing how to trade and bargain, one can, if not get rich, then, in any case, not be poor. Nowadays, everyone is looking for benefits for themselves in everything: the state sets a ridiculous minimum wage with crazy taxes that go to no one knows what; private employers seek to profit by any means at the expense of hired workers; banks issue loans at unrealistic interest rates...
And what can we say about interpersonal relationships, when a mercantile girl strives to marry a “major” or, even worse, a rich old man, just so as not to work and live happily ever after! Since childhood, it was “drilled” into her head that a husband must earn a lot, and a wife must spend a lot. And such a concept as “feelings” is all from the realm of fantasy and fairy tales about Cinderella. The same can be said about friendship. 
Rarely today will anyone be friends “for no reason.” Any mercantile person will not even look in the direction of someone whose income is lower than his own. And if you ask such a “friend” for a loan, he will either not give it, or he will give it, but at such an interest rate that it will be cheaper to apply for a loan from a bank. And such people are friends only as long as everything is fine with their friends. If trouble happens, a mercantile person will not provide help, even moral. It doesn't benefit him.
These people are extremely calculating, selfish, stingy, and greedy. True, most of them prefer to call themselves frugal. The paradox is also that the richer a person is, the greedier he is. Sometimes it reaches the point of absurdity, when he even feels sorry for spending an extra penny on himself, let alone someone else. He is literally “wrapped” in profit, like Uncle Scrooge from the famous cartoon. So money is money, but we shouldn’t forget that, besides it, there is simply life, which tends to pass by or end at the most inopportune moment. And in old age, it suddenly seems that, apart from bank accounts, there is nothing more to remember.
Commercialism is nonsense or a psychological norm of our time
Commercialism is pettiness, prudence, economy, which develops into a kind of bargaining. We call a mercantile person who is concerned with material gain, in general, a selfish person.
The modern world provides us with services at every step and immediately announces their cost, people practically no longer perform selfless acts, they strive to receive some benefit for themselves in return for everything.
Commercialism is a quality that was previously inherent more often in women than in men. Today, almost any person can be described this way, and it is no longer condemned as much as before. This quality begins to be instilled “from the cradle,” as they say. That is, parents are very afraid that the child will be “tricked” in the future or that he will not take advantage of all the opportunities provided. In general, this behavior of adults is dictated by harsh reality, and therefore to some extent is understandable.
In order to fully understand, let’s consider the essence of the concept of “mercantilism”. The meaning of the word is interpreted as “selfish” and “mercenary”. The concept came to us from French and Italian. But commercialism in the Russian language is not limited to one interpretation of “self-interest.” Several more qualities are added to it, for example, prudence and thrift. Note that at the initial stage of their development, these qualities are positive and have a beneficial effect on the development of the individual. But their hypertrophied form no longer has anything good.
In general, a mercantile person is one who seeks to benefit from a situation. As you understand, the benefit can be not only material. Moreover, the germs of such human behavior appear in childhood, therefore a lot depends not only on the family, but also on the environment.
Analyzing the present and past of our country, let us remember the fact that previously our grandparents and parents worked even for an idea, could not receive money and do social work completely free of charge. Nobody is saying that we should leave comfortable jobs with good salaries and join the ranks of idealists. But sometimes it just becomes scary how much the value system in our world has changed. Commercialism is also a fruit of society. If earlier we could say that a woman who is looking for a profitable groom is selfish and calculating, now the search for more favorable working conditions is also a sign of commercialism.
Let's take, for example, a modern woman. She wants to get married successfully, so that her husband earns good money, has a spacious living space, or, more simply put, is completely “packed.” As for the modern man, he strives to find a life partner who will also be wealthy and moderately intelligent. In addition, she must be a good housewife and a wonderful mother to his children. Based on the above, we see that both are mercantile, that is, everyone is looking for some benefit for themselves.
What about the story of Cinderella? Have wonderful feelings really faded into the background, or even the third place?
As it turned out, commercialism can be characteristic of every person who has created the conditions for this type of thinking. Well, he (or she) has seen enough films about a rich and beautiful life, but in the end of such films, as a rule, they show how this life can end. But everyone chooses for themselves, and they must pay alone.
Of course, commercialism is a negative quality that deprives us of humanity and nobility. But we choose, and no one pushes us to anything. After all, you want the best for your children, and you shouldn’t deprive yourself... But where is the cherished line that separates us, people, from mercantile robots, we don’t always know and we don’t always know how to stick to it. So think for yourself, decide for yourself!
Commercialism is:
CommercialismCommercialism(from lat. mercantile- huckstering, selfish) - excessive prudence, huckstering, stinginess, self-interest, pettiness (not only from a financial point of view).
Commercialism is formed in childhood, but its appearance can be prevented by family education. Commercialism or its absence is influenced by the national and cultural environment. It is believed that modern American culture is most conducive to the development of commercialism.
In modern Russia, commercialism is widespread among young people - even in the Sergiev Posad region, most young people are guided by acquisitive values when choosing a job. It is noteworthy that among already established Russian businessmen, the level of mercantile people is relatively low. He is even lower among the intelligentsia. It should be noted that mercantile people often deny their own selfishness (this behavior is especially typical for hysterical individuals).
Some famous writers have addressed the topic of commercialism. N.V. Gogol had a highly negative attitude towards her.
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of All Rus'
Mercantility (from French and Italian mercantile - huckstering, selfish) - excessive prudence, huckstering, self-interest, pettiness (not only from a financial point of view).
Commercialism is formed in childhood, but its appearance can be prevented by family education. Commercialism or its absence is influenced by the national-cultural environment. It is believed that modern American culture is most conducive to the development of commercialism.
In modern Russia, commercialism is widespread among young people - even in the Sergiev Posad region, most young people are guided by acquisitive values when choosing a job. It is noteworthy that among already established Russian businessmen, the level of mercantile people is relatively low. He is even lower among the intelligentsia. It should be noted that mercantile people often deny their own selfishness (this behavior is especially typical for hysterical personalities).
Some famous writers have addressed the topic of commercialism. N.V. Gogol had a highly negative attitude towards her.
Sadova Tanyusha
Meaning
1 historical econ. adj. to mercantilism, trade, based on purely commercial calculation, on the desire for immediate benefit ◆ Mercantile system.
2 transfers petty-calculating, huckstering ◆ Mercantile interests. ◆ And everywhere there is a mercantile spirit. A. S. Pushkin ◆ He is too mercantile. ◆ Here is the only place where people are shown not out of necessity, where necessity and mercantile interest that embraces the whole of St. Petersburg have not driven them. N.V. Gogol, “Nevsky Prospekt”
[right ]
Synonyms
merchant, commercial, prudent, industrial, merchant, merchant
petty, huckstering
What is commercialism
MERCANTILITY (from French and Italian mercantile - merchant, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; self-interest.
Synonyms: self-interest, greed, self-interest, mercantilism, unselfishness, prudence, self-interest, self-interest, love of money, acquisitiveness, huckstering, selfishness, frugality
:
Mercantility - (from the Latin mercantile, mercenary, selfish) excessive prudence, huckstering, stinginess, self-interest, pettiness (not only from a financial point of view). Commercialism is formed in childhood, but its appearance can be... ... Wikipedia
MERCANTILITY - from the word mercantile. Trade, trading spirit. Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. Mikhelson A.D., 1865. MERCANTILITY, MERCANTILISM (from the word mercantile). 1) trade, trading ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
commercialism - self-interest, self-interest, acquisitiveness, huckstering, self-interest, prudence, love of money, mercantilism, self-interest, selfishness, selfishness, unselfishness Dictionary of Russian synonyms. commercialism n. , number of synonyms: (13) … … Dictionary of synonyms
Commercialism is excessive prudence, self-interest. Dictionary of business terms. Academician. RU. 2001 ... Dictionary of business terms
commercialism - MERCANTIL, oh, oh; flax, linen (book). Overly calculating, huckstering. M. spirit. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S. I. Ozhegov, N. Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
MERCANTILITY - excessive petty prudence, extreme economy, turning into huckstering. Raizberg B. A., Lozovsky L. Sh., Starodubtseva E. B. Modern economic dictionary. 2nd ed. , rev. M.: INFRA M. 479 p. . 1999 ... Economic Dictionary
Mercantility - (from French and Italian mercantile, mercantile, selfish) excessive prudence, huckstering; self-interest. Political science: Dictionary reference book. comp. Prof. Science Sanzharevsky I. I. 2010 ... Political science. Dictionary.
commercialism - (from French and Italian mercantile, mercenary, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; self-interest. * * * MERCANTILITY MERCANTILITY (from French and Italian mercantile, mercenary, selfish), excessive prudence, huckstering; … … Encyclopedic Dictionary
commercialism - f. (stinginess, prudence) mercantilisme m ... Large French-Russian and Russian-French dictionary
Mercantility - (from the French mercantile, merchant, selfish, from the Italian, mercante merchant) greed, prudence, huckstering... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The section is very easy to use. Just enter the desired word in the field provided, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.
Meaning of the word mercantile
mercantile in the crossword dictionary
mercantile
Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Dal Vladimir
mercantile
French trade, merchant, industrial, fishing. Mercantile system, expansion of the circle of foreign trade at the expense of other nations.
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
mercantile
mercantile, mercantile; mercantile, mercantile mercantile.
only full forms. Adj. to mercantilism in 1 value. (historical economics). Mercantile system.
trans. Petty-calculating, huckstering. Mercantile interests. And everywhere there is a mercantile spirit. Pushkin. He's too mercantile.
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.
mercantile
Aya, oh; -flax, -linen (book). An overly calculating huckster. M. spirit.
noun commercialism, -i, f.
New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.
Examples of the use of the word mercantile in literature.
And while there is a behind-the-scenes fuss around the work of the Government Commission, while there is a secret struggle between the interested ministries, while the dead are in the ashes mercantile dirty politics are being picked - the old captains have long since made their conclusion: the reason is banal.
But they didn’t respond to my call mercantile the steamboatmen are Inspector Bosorcan himself, the nomadic god of order and tamer of the miner's freemen.
I, for example, know of a case where a five-pound banknote served as a bone of discord, and then completely destroyed half a century of affection between two brothers, and I can only rejoice at the thought of how excellent and indestructible the love is in our mercantile world.
Any traveling artist should be dear to the heart of a person of the right way of thinking, if only because he is a living protest against offices and mercantile spirit, a necessary reminder that life doesn’t have to be what we usually make it into.
But don’t those types of movement that generate the beauty of the body change our general ideas about beauty and good health as values immeasurably higher than mercantile vanity and constant fuss around the desire to snatch and accumulate?
“I will wear it,” he added, again taking off his hat and looking at it so fiercely, as if only considerations mercantile order prevented him from kicking her, - I will wear this emblem of female treachery in memory of the one who gave me happiness, alas, fleeting, for whom I will no longer raise a cup of sparkling wine and by whose grace I have until the end of my short days is destined for separation from the blessed morpheus.
Mother Courage - may this be said to help the directors - like her friends and clients and almost everyone she meets and crosses, recognizes in the war its purely mercantile essence: this is precisely what attracts her.
The Chekhov family needed money, but the terms of payment of royalties for the novel were such that they force one to consider purely mercantile version is untenable.
Ahead we will let the Cossacks go on reconnaissance, through the sands of Central Asia we will go to Herat and fall straight into India to destroy mercantile the greatness of speculative England.
In a woman's mind mercantile reasons always outweigh any patriotism,” Wendy answered, and it was not clear whether she was joking or not.
Nowadays commerce and science mercantile The fatherland urgently needs steel, and therefore I decided to adapt you to accounting.
There is reason to suspect that Perry was not attracted by love, but only mercantile considerations: he dreamed of outliving Samoilova in order to take possession of the untold riches of the Russian aristocrat.
Those farthest from the truth are those who prioritize mercantile causes.
In ancient times, people knew about our Aeroflot only that our planes are the most reliable, our pilots are the most selflessly devoted, our simulators are the largest, our fuel flows in the most generous stream, and in general, we are superior mercantile calculations.
Any mercantile At the same time, we do not pursue goals; the main thing for us is the good of the Motherland.
