negotiant

English

Etymology

From French négociant, or its source, Latin negōtiant-, probably via Italian negoziante (“merchant”).

Noun

negotiant (plural negotiants)

1. (now rare, chiefly historical) Someone who conducts negotiations; a negotiator, an agent. [from 17th c.]
   • 1658, Walter Raleigh, The Cabinet-Council:

     Ambassadors, negotiants, and generally all other ministers of mean fortune, in conversation with princes and superiors, must use great respect

2. (obsolete) A trader or merchant; a businessman; a financier. [18th–19th c.]
   • 1790, Helen Maria Williams, Letters Written in France, Broadview Press, published 2002, page 75:

     Such was the scarcity of bread, that a French gentleman told me, that, the day preceding the taking of the Bastille, he was invited to dine with a Negotiant, and, when he went, was informed that a servant had been out five hours in search of bread, and had at last been able to purchase only one loaf.