Trāde1, n.
n. [Fr. traite, conveyance of corn, wine, &c., transportation, trade; It. tratta, Sp. & Pg. trato, from Fr. traiter, It. trattare, Sp. & Pg. tratar, to handle, to treat, to trade, Lat. tractare. See TRACTABLE.]
Sense 1. The act or business of exchanging commodities by barter; the business of buying and selling for money; commerce; traffic; barter.
Trade comprehends every species of exchange or dealing, either in the produce of land, in manufactures, in bills, or money. It is, however, chiefly used to denote the barter or purchase and sale of goods, wares, and merchandise, either by wholesale or retail. Trade is either foreign or domestic, or inland. Foreign trade consists in the exportation and importation of goods, or the exchange of the commodities of different countries. Domestic or home trade is the exchange, or buying and selling, of goods within a country. Trade is also by the wholesale, that is, by the package or in large quantities, or it is by retail, or in small parcels. The carrying trade is that of transporting commodities from one country to another by water.
Sense 2. The business which a person has learned, and which he carries on, for procuring subsistence, or for profit; occupation; especially, mechanical employment;—distinguished from the liberal arts and learned professions, and from agriculture; as, we speak of the trade of a smith, of a carpenter, or mason; but we never say, the trade of a farmer, or of a lawyer, or physician. “The homely, slighted, shepherd’s trade.” Milton.
I will instruct thee in my trade. Shak.
Sense 3. Business pursued; occupation; employment.
There these five sisters had continual trade. Spencer.
Long did I love this lady; Long was my travail, long my trade to win her. Massinger.
Sense 4. Instruments of any occupation.
The shepherd bears His house and household goods, his trade of war. Dryden.
Sense 5. Custom; habit; standing practice.
Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade. Shak.
Sense 6. A company of men engaged in the same occupation. Thus, booksellers and publishers speak of the customs of the trade.
Sense 7. (pl.) The trade-winds.
Sense 8. The same as TREAD. [Obs. and very rare.] “Some savage beast’s trade.” Spenser.
Sense 9. Refuse or rubbish from a mine. [Prov. Eng.]
Synonyms—Profession; occupation; office; calling; avocation; employment; commerce; dealing; traffic.