commodity

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Contents

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Middle English commoditee < Anglo-Norman commoditee, from Latin commoditat, commoditas.

Pronunciation

Noun

commodity (plural commodities)

  1. (obsolete) Convenience. [15th-19th c.]
  2. Anything movable (a good) that is bought and sold. [from 15th c.]
    • 1995, James G. Carrier, Gifts and Commodities: Exchange and Western Capitalism Since 1700, p.122[1]
      If a key part of shopping is the conversion of anonymous commodities into possessions, shopping is a cultural as much as an economic activity.
    • 2001, Rachel Pain, Introducing Social Geographies, p. 26 [2]
      In human geography "commodities" usually refers to goods and services which are bought and sold. The simplest commodities are those produced by the production system just before they are sold.
    • 2005, William Leiss, Botterill, Jacki, Social Communication in Advertising: Consumption in the Mediated Marketplace, p.307 [3]
      • Referring to the work of Bourdieu, Zukin (2004,38) notes that shopping is much more than the purchase of commodities
  3. Something useful or valuable. [from 15th c.]
    And Slade said: "It really makes me sad that football club chairmen and boards seem to have lost that most precious commodity - patience. "Sam's sacking at Newcastle had, I suppose, been on the cards for a while, but it is really ridiculous to fire a manager after such a short time. Somerset County Gazette on Jan. 14th, 2008.
  4. (obsolete) Self-interest; personal convenience or advantage. [16th-19th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, NYRB 2001, vol. 1 p. 321:
      they commonly respect their own ends, commodity is the steer of all their actions [...].
  5. (economics) Raw materials, agricultural and other primary products as objects of large-scale trading in specialized exchanges.
    The price of crude oil is determined in continuous trading between professional players in World's many commodities exchanges.
  6. (marketing) Undifferentiated goods characterized by a low profit margin, as distinguished from branded products.
    Although they were once in the forefront of consumer electronics, the calculators have become a mere commodity.
  7. (Marxism) Anything which has both a use-value and an exchange-value.

 

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'Commodity' News
Bespoke's Commodity Snapshot (8/26/10) - Seeking Alpha (blog)
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Bespoke's Commodity Snapshot (8/26/10) - Seeking Alpha (blog)
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