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a. Liable to be amerced. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. amerciment. ] The infliction of a penalty at the discretion of the court; also, a mulct or penalty thus imposed. It differs from a fine, in that the latter is, or was originally, a fixed and certain sum prescribed by statute for an offense; but an amercement is arbitrary. Hence, the act or practice of affeering. [ See Affeer. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, in old books, is written amerciament. [ 1913 Webster ]

Amercement royal, a penalty imposed on an officer for a misdemeanor in his office. Jacobs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who amerces. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Formerly accented on the second syllable.) [ F. commerce, L. commercium; com- + merx, mercis, merchandise. See Merchant. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The public becomes powerful in proportion to the opulence and extensive commerce of private men. Hume. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fifteen years of thought, observation, and commerce with the world had made him [ Bunyan ] wiser. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sexual intercourse. W. Montagu. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A round game at cards, in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade. Hoyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Chamber of commerce. See Chamber.

Syn. -- Trade; traffic; dealings; intercourse; interchange; communion; communication. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Commerced p. pr. & vb. n. Commercing. ] [ Cf. F. commercer, fr. LL. commerciare. ] 1. To carry on trade; to traffic. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Beware you commerce not with bankrupts. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hold intercourse; to commune. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commercing with himself. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Musicians . . . taught the people in angelic harmonies to commerce with heaven. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Nav.) A very fast, unarmored, lightly armed vessel designed to capture or destroy merchant vessels of an enemy. Not being intended to fight, they may be improvised from fast passenger steamers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Commerce that involves transportation of articles of commerce across state lines. [ U.S. ] [ PJC ]

n. The governmental commision charged with making and enforcing regulations concerning interstate commerce. [ U. S. ] [ PJC ]

v. t. [ See Amerce. ] To subject to fine or amercement; to mulct; to amerce. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Mercenary. ] (Zool.) The quahog. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mercenary. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a mercenary manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being mercenary; venality. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. mercenarie, F. mercenaire, fr. L. mercenarius, fr. merces wages, reward. See Mercy. ] 1. Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Moved primarily by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

For God forbid I should my papers blot
With mercenary lines, with servile pen. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Venal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mercenaries One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mercier, fr. L. merx, mercis, wares, merchandise. See Merchant. ] Originally, a dealer in any kind of goods or wares; now restricted to a dealer in textile fabrics, as silks or woolens. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. -ized p. pr. & vb. n. -izing ] [ From (John) Mercer (1791-1866), an English calico printer who introduced the process + -ize. ] To treat (cotton fiber or fabrics) with a solution of caustic alkali. Such treatment causes the fiber to shrink in length and become stronger and more receptive of dyes. If the yarn or cloth is kept under tension during the process, it assumes a silky luster. -- Mer`cer*i*za"tion n. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. The business of a mercer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mercerie. ] The trade of mercers; the goods in which a mercer deals. [ 1913 Webster ]