commodity
Pluralcommodities
- 1
- 2Raw materials and crops that are bought and sold in huge amounts on special markets.
Like a huge market where people trade truckloads of grain or barrels of oil.
Wheat and corn are commodities traded on big markets.
Oil is a commodity sold all over the world.
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- 3A basic product that is the same no matter who makes it, sold on price not brand.
Like plain bottled water, where one brand works as well as another, so you just pick the cheapest.
To most shoppers, table salt is just a commodity.
When products become commodities, sellers compete mainly on price.
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- 4
- 5A thing that is both useful and can be traded for other things.
Like an apple you can eat yourself or swap for something else.
A loaf of bread is a commodity: you can eat it or sell it.
Anything you both use and sell counts as a commodity.
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Less common meanings
- 6Usefulness, or how well a thing suits what you need.
Like how handy a tool is for a job.
He praised the great commodity of the new harbor for trade.
They settled there for the commodity of the running stream nearby.
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- 7Personal gain, or doing what is best for yourself.
Like looking out only for yourself.
He served the prince only for his own commodity.
Each man looked to his private commodity before the common good.
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Practice
Can you tell the meanings of commodity apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin commoditās, which came into English through Anglo-Norman and Middle English.