From Middle English trade ( “ path, course of conduct ” ) , introduced into English by Hanseatic merchants, from Middle Low German trade ( “ track, course ” ) , from Old Saxon trada ( “ spoor, track ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *tradō ( “ track, way ” ) , and cognate with Old English tredan ( “ to tread ” ) ; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- ( “ to tread, walk, step, run ” ) .
trade (countable and uncountable , plural trades )
( uncountable ) Buying and selling of goods and services on a market .
Synonym: commerce
( countable ) A particular instance of buying or selling .
I did no trades with them once the rumors started.
Synonyms: deal , barter
( countable ) An instance of bartering items in exchange for one another.
1989 , Bruce Pandolfini , Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps [1] , →ISBN , Glossary, page 225 :EXCHANGE — A trade or swap of no material profit to either side.
2009 , Elliott Kalb, Mark Weinstein, The 30 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All Time [2] , →ISBN , page 60 :When Golden State matched the Knicks' offer sheet, the Warriors and Knicks worked out a trade that sent King to New York for Richardson.
( countable ) Those who perform a particular kind of skilled work.
The skilled trades were the first to organize modern labor unions.
2006 , Edwin Black , chapter 2, in Internal Combustion [3] :But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.
Synonym: business
( countable ) Those engaged in an industry or group of related industries.
It is not a retail showroom. It is only for the trade .
( countable ) The skilled practice of a practical occupation .
1969 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
Synonym: craft
( countable or uncountable ) An occupation in the secondary sector , as opposed to an agricultural , professional or military one.
After failing his entrance exams, he decided to go into a trade .
Most veterans went into trade when the war ended.
2007 , Michael Lynch, The Oxford Companion to Scottish History , USA: Oxford University Press, →ISBN , page 228 :Subsequently some Scottish troops settled, took up trade as weavers, tailors, or mariners, and married Dutch women.
2012 , Liberty Carrington, Wide Eyes Closed , AuthorHouse, →ISBN , page 92 :Getting a job in your major is no breeze: Remember we made fun of those who took up a trade
( uncountable , UK ) The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers.
Even before noon there was considerable trade .
Synonym: patronage
( chiefly in the plural ) Steady winds blowing from east to west above and below the equator .
They rode the trades going west.
1826 [1816 ], James Horsburgh, India Directory, Or Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland, Cape of Good Hope, Brazil and the Interjacent Ports [4] , page 28 :Calms and variable winds, are also experienced during every month of the year, in the space between the trades ; [ …] the vicinity of the north-east trade seems most liable to them.
( only as plural ) A publication intended for participants in an industry or related group of industries.
Rumors about layoffs are all over the trades .
( uncountable , gay slang ) A masculine man available for casual sex with men, often for pay. (Compare rough trade .)
1950 , W. H. Auden , “A Playboy of the Western World: St. Oscar, The Homintern Martyr”, in Partisan Review [5] , pages 391–2 :In a homosexual of this kind—corresponding to the test of eccentric behavior in the drawing-room—one usually finds a preference for "trade ," i.e., sexually normal males, because, if another homosexual yields to him, he is only one of a class, but if he can believe that an exception is being made in his case, it seems a proof that he is being accepted for himself alone.
Josh picked up some trade last night.
( obsolete , uncountable ) Instruments of any occupation.
1697 , John Dryden , “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in The works of Virgil containing his Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis [6] , page 112 :His House and household Gods! his trade of War, / His Bow and Quiver; and his trusty Cur.
( mining ) Refuse or rubbish from a mine.
( obsolete ) A track or trail; a way; a path; passage .
1557 , Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey , The Second Book of Virgil's Æneid :A postern with a blind wicket there was, / A common trade to pass through Priam's house
c. 1595 , William Shakespeare , Richard II , act III, scene iii:Or, I'll be buried in the king's highway, / Some way of common trade , where subjects' feet / May hourly trample on their sovereign's head.
( obsolete ) Course; custom; practice; occupation.
1545 , Nicholas Udall , Paraphrase on Luke , translation of original by Desiderius Erasmus :The Jewes, emong whom alone and no moe, God hitherto semed for to reigne, by reason of their knowledge of the law, and of the autoritee of being in the right trade of religion.
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene i] :Thy sin's not accidental but a trade .
buying and selling
Afrikaans: ruil , handel (af)
Albanian: tregti (sq) f
Amharic: ንግድ ( nəgd )
Arabic: تِجَارَة f ( tijāra )
Armenian: առևտուր (hy) ( aṙewtur )
Assamese: বেহাবেপাৰ ( behabepar ) , বেপাৰ ( bepar ) , বেহা ( beha )
Azerbaijani: alver (az) , ticarət (az)
Bashkir: сауҙа ( sawźa )
Belarusian: га́ндаль (be) m ( hándalʹ ) , каме́рцыя f ( kamjércyja ) , тарго́ўля f ( tarhóŭlja )
Bengali: বাণিজ্য (bn) ( banijjo ) , তেজারত (bn) ( tejarot ) , সওদা (bn) ( śoōda )
Bulgarian: търго́вия (bg) f ( tǎrgóvija )
Burmese: အရောင်းအဝယ် (my) ( a.raung:a.wai ) , ဝါဏိဇ္ဇ (my) ( wanijja. ) , ကုန်သွယ်ရေး (my) ( kunswaire: )
Buryat: наймаан ( najmaan )
Catalan: comerç (ca) m
Chechen: махлелор ( maxlelor ) , йохкар эцар ( joxkar ecar )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 貿易 / 贸易 ( mau6 jik6 )
Eastern Min: 貿易 / 贸易 ( mâiu-ĭk )
Hakka: 貿易 / 贸易 ( meu-yi̍t / méu-yi̍t / mo-yi )
Hokkien: 貿易 / 贸易 (zh-min-nan) ( bō͘-e̍k / mō͘-e̍k / biō-ia̍k / biō-e̍k )
Mandarin: 貿易 / 贸易 (zh) ( màoyì ) , 交易 (zh) ( jiāoyì )
Wu: 貿易 / 贸易 ( 6 meu-yiq)
Czech: obchod (cs) m
Danish: handel (da) c
Dutch: handel (nl) m , commercie (nl) f
Esperanto: komerco
Estonian: kaubandus
Finnish: kauppa (fi) , kaupankäynti (fi)
French: commerce (fr) m
Galician: comercio (gl) m , trato (gl) m
Georgian: ვაჭრობა ( vač̣roba )
German: Handel (de) m , Kommerz f
Greek: εμπόριο (el) n ( empório )
Ancient: ἐμπορία f ( emporía )
Gujarati: વ્યાપાર (gu) m ( vyāpār )
Hausa: ciniki (ha) , kasuwanci (ha)
Hebrew: סַחַר (he) m ( sakhar ) , מִסְחָר (he) m ( miskhar )
Hindi: व्यापार (hi) m ( vyāpār ) , व्यवसाय (hi) m ( vyavsāy ) , वाणिज्य (hi) m ( vāṇijya )
Hungarian: kereskedelem (hu)
Icelandic: viðskipti (is) n pl , verslun (is) f
Indonesian: perdagangan (id)
Ingrian: kauppa
Irish: tráchtáil f
Italian: commercio (it) m
Japanese: 貿易 (ja) ( ぼうえき, bōeki ) , 交易 (ja) ( こうえき, kōeki ) , 商業 (ja) ( しょうぎょう, shōgyō ) , 商う (ja) ( akinau )
Kannada: ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ (kn) ( vāṇijya )
Kazakh: сауда ( sauda ) , коммерция ( kommersiä )
Khmer: ពាណិជ្ជកម្ម (km) ( piənɨccĕəʼkam ) , វណិជ្ជា (km) ( vĕəʼnɨcciə ) , ពាណិជ្ជ (km) ( piənɨc )
Korean: 거래(去來) (ko) ( georae ) , 교역(交易) (ko) ( gyoyeok ) , 무역(貿易) (ko) ( muyeok ) , 상업(商業) (ko) ( sang'eop )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: sewda (ku) , bazirganî (ku)
Kyrgyz: соода (ky) ( sooda ) , коммерция ( kommertsiya )
Lao: ການຄ້າ (lo) ( kān khā ) , ທຸລະກິດ (lo) ( thu la kit )
Latin: commercium n
Latvian: tirgošanās m , tirdzniecība (lv) f , komercija f
Lithuanian: prekyba (lt) f , komercija f
Macedonian: трговија f ( trgovija ) , комерција f ( komercija )
Malay: perdagangan (ms)
Malayalam: വ്യാപാരം (ml) ( vyāpāraṁ )
Maltese: kummerċ
Manchu: ᠮᠠᡳᠮᠠᠨ ( maiman )
Marathi: वाणिज्य ( vāṇijya )
Middle English: chaffare
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: наймаа (mn) ( najmaa ) , худалдаа (mn) ( xudaldaa )
Navajo: naʼiiniʼ
Ngazidja Comorian: ɓiashara class 9
Norwegian:
Bokmål: handel (no) m
Nynorsk: handel m
Occitan: comèrci (oc)
Old English: ġemangian
Oromo: daldala
Ossetian: базар ( bazar )
Ottoman Turkish: تجارت ( ticâret )
Pali: vaṇijjā n
Pashto: تجارت (ps) m ( tejārát ) , سودا (ps) f ( sawdā )
Persian:
Dari: تِجَارَت (fa) ( tijārat ) , سَوْدَا (fa) ( sawdā )
Iranian Persian: تِجارَت (fa) ( tejârat ) , سُوْدا (fa) ( sowdâ )
Polish: handel (pl) m inan
Portuguese: comércio (pt) m
Romanian: comerț (ro) n
Russian: торго́вля (ru) f ( torgóvlja ) , комме́рция (ru) f ( kommércija )
Sanskrit: वाणिज्य (sa) n ( vāṇijya )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: трго̀вина f
Roman: trgòvina (sh) f
Shor: садығ ( sadığ )
Sinhalese: වෙළෙඳාම (si) ( weḷeⁿdāma )
Slovak: obchod m
Slovene: trgovina (sl) f
Somali: ganacsi (so)
Spanish: comercio (es) m , compraventa (es) f , trocamiento m
Swahili: biashara (sw)
Swedish: handel (sv) c , byteshandel (sv) c
Tagalog: baliwasan , kalakalan
Tajik: тиҷорат ( tijorat ) , савдо ( savdo )
Tamil: வணிகம் (ta) ( vaṇikam )
Tatar: сәүдә (tt) ( säwdä )
Telugu: వర్తకము (te) ( vartakamu ) , వాణిజ్యము (te) ( vāṇijyamu )
Thai: พาณิชย์ ( paa-nít ) , ธุรกิจ (th) ( tú-rá-gìt ) , การค้า (th) ( gaan-káa )
Tibetan: རྗེ བརྗེ བརྗེས བརྗེས ( rje brje brjes brjes )
Tocharian B: karyor n
Turkish: alım satım (tr) , ticaret (tr) , tecim (tr) ( archaic ) , satmanlık , satkanlık
Turkmen: söwda
Ukrainian: торгі́вля f ( torhívlja ) , коме́рція (uk) f ( komércija )
Urdu: تِجارَت f ( tijārat ) , سَودا m ( saudā )
Uyghur: تىجارەت ( tijaret ) , سودا ( soda )
Uzbek: tijorat (uz) , kommersiya (uz) , savdo (uz)
Vietnamese: sự buôn bán (vi) , thương mại (vi) , thương nghiệp (vi)
Yakut: эргиэн ( ergien ) , атыы ( atıı )
Yiddish: האַנדל m ( handl )
Zhuang: gaicawx , mouyiz
instance of buying or selling
Afrikaans: handel (af)
Bulgarian: сделка (bg) f ( sdelka )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 貿易 / 贸易 (zh) ( màoyì )
Czech: obchod (cs) m
Danish: handel (da) c , byttehandel c
Dutch: handel (nl) m
Esperanto: negoco
Finnish: kauppa (fi)
French: commerce (fr) m , magasin (fr) m
Galician: negocio (gl) m , trato (gl) m
German: Handel (de) m , Geschäft (de) n
Hindi: व्यापार (hi) m ( vyāpār ) , व्यवसाय (hi) m ( vyavsāy ) , वाणिज्य (hi) m ( vāṇijya )
Hungarian: kereskedés (hu) , üzlet (hu) , üzletelés (hu)
Icelandic: kaup (is) n pl
Ingrian: kauppa
Japanese: 商売 (ja) ( しょうばい, shōbai )
Korean: 거래(去來) (ko) ( georae )
Macedonian: тргување n ( trguvanje )
Middle English: chaffare
Norwegian:
Bokmål: handel (no) m
Polish: transakcja (pl) f
Portuguese: negócio (pt) m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ра̑змена f , ра̑змјена f , и̏змена f , и̏змјена f
Roman: rȃzmena f , rȃzmjena (sh) f , ȉzmena (sh) f , ȉzmjena (sh) f
Swahili: biashara (sw)
Tagalog: baliwasan
Turkish: alım satım (tr) , alışveriş (tr)
those engaged in an industry
skilled practice of an occupation
Afrikaans: ambag
Armenian: արհեստ (hy) ( arhest )
Bashkir: һөнәр ( hönər )
Bulgarian: занаятие n ( zanajatie ) , професия (bg) f ( profesija )
Czech: řemeslo (cs) n , mistrovství (cs) n
Dutch: gilde (nl) m
Finnish: ammattitaito , ammatti (fi)
French: métier (fr)
Galician: oficio (gl) m , mestría f
German: Handwerk (de) n
Hungarian: mesterség (hu) , szakma (hu)
Icelandic: iðn (is) f
Italian: mestiere (it)
Korean: 기술(技術) (ko) ( gisul )
Macedonian: занает (mk) m ( zanaet ) , струка f ( struka )
Maori: mahi-ā-rehe
Norwegian:
Bokmål: håndverk (no) n , fag (no) n
Ottoman Turkish: صنعت ( sanʼat, zanʼat )
Polish: profesja (pl) f , zawód (pl) m inan , fach (pl) m inan
Portuguese: ofício (pt)
Romanian: meserie (ro)
Russian: ремесло́ (ru) n ( remesló ) , профе́ссия (ru) f ( proféssija )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: за̀на̄т m
Roman: zànāt (sh) m
Spanish: gremio (es) m
Swedish: yrke (sv) n , hantverk (sv) n
Turkish: marifet (tr) , zanaat (tr)
occupation in the secondary sector
business given by customers
steady winds above and below equator
publication intended for participants in an industry
slang: brief sexual encounter
instruments of any occupation
mining: refuse or rubbish from a mine
track or trail; way; path; passage
course; custom; practice; occupation
Translations to be checked
trade (third-person singular simple present trades , present participle trading , simple past and past participle traded )
( transitive , intransitive ) To engage in trade .
Synonym: deal
This company trades (in) precious metal.
He withdrew money to his bank account after several years of trading stocks on E-Trade.
1727 , John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures [7] , page 248 :[ …] a free port, where Nations warring with one another resorted with their Goods, and traded as in a neutral Country.
( finance , intransitive , copulative ) To be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions.
Apple is trading at $200.
ExxonMobil trades on the NYSE.
The stock is trading rich relative to its sector.
( transitive , with for ) To give (something) in exchange (for).
Synonyms: exchange , swap , switch , truck
Will you trade your precious watch for my earring?
( transitive ) To mutually exchange (something) (with).
The rival schoolboys traded insults.
2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 29:08 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those? [8] , archived from the original on 3 November 2022 :Kalinin Bay is also in trouble, trading fire with Japanese destroyers and taking hits from both them and cruisers at the same time. Unlike the Gambier Bay , however, it does not appear that these ships have realized they need to switch to high explosive from armor-piercing, and, despite being riddled with shellfire, the ship stays afloat, despite this rather-unequal battering going on for another twenty to thirty minutes.
( transitive , with on ) To use or exploit a particular aspect, such as a name, reputation, or image, to gain advantage or benefit.
Synonyms: exploit , capitalize on , take advantage of , use , leverage , benefit from , make use of , milk
Some musicians try to trade on their past success by playing the same hits over and over again.
( horticulture , transitive or intransitive ) To give someone a plant and receive a different one in return .
( transitive , intransitive ) To do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood .
Synonym: do business
( intransitive ) To have dealings; to be concerned or associated (with).
c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The Tragedie of Macbeth ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene v] :Saucy and over bold, how did you dare / To trade and traffic with Macbeth
( transitive ) To recommend and get recommendations .
Synonym: exchange
finance: to be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions
to use or exploit a particular aspect
gardening: to give someone a plant and receive a different one in return
to do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood
to have dealings; to be concerned or associated (with)
trade (not comparable )
Of a product , produced for sale in the ordinary bulk retail trade and hence of only the most basic quality .
trade
( dated or formal ) singular past subjunctive of treden
trade
inflection of trader :
first / third-person singular present indicative / subjunctive
second-person singular imperative
Trado ("auger")
IPA (key ) : /ˈtɾade/ [ˈt̪ɾa.ð̞ɪ]
Rhymes: -ade
Hyphenation: tra‧de
From Old Galician-Portuguese traado , independently attested (14th century); from Late Latin taratrum ( “ auger ” ) , used by Isidore of Seville . Probably from a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia or from Proto-Celtic *taratrom , from Proto-Indo-European *térh₁-tro- .
Cognate with Portuguese trado , Spanish taladro , Old Irish tarathar , Old Welsh tarater , Breton tarar .
trade m (plural trades )
auger
Synonyms: broca , barrena
“trade ”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy , 2012 –2024
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández , editor (2006 –2013 ), “trade ”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language ] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández , Ernesto Xosé González Seoane , María Álvarez de la Granja , editors (2003 –2018 ), “trade ”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
“trade ” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
Rosario Álvarez Blanco , editor (2014 –2024 ), “trade ”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega , →ISSN
trade
inflection of tradar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
trade
inflection of traden :
first-person singular present
first / third-person singular subjunctive I
singular imperative
trāde
second-person singular present active imperative of trādō
“trade ”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898 ), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities , New York: Harper & Brothers