COMMERCE

Definitions

1. 1. The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; esp. the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic. The public becomes powerful in proportion to the opulence and extensive commerce of private men. Hume.
2. 2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity. Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [Bunyan] wiser. Macaulay.
3. 3. Sexual intercourse. W. Montagu.
4. 4. A round game at cards, in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade. Hoyle. Chamber of commerce. See Chamber.