# commerce

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɒm.əs/ · frequency rank #3,803

## Definitions
1. The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic.
2. Social intercourse; the dealings of one person or class in society with another; familiarity.
3. Sexual intercourse.
4. An 18th-century French card game in which the cards are subject to exchange, barter, or trade.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French commerce, from Latin commercium. Doublet of comess.

## Easily confused with
- **coerce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coerce-vs-commerce)
- **commence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/commence-vs-commerce)
- **commenced** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/commenced-vs-commerce)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ccommerce`, `cmomerce`, `comemrce`, `comerce`, `commecre`, `commercce`, `commerec`, `commerrce`, `commrece`, `ocmmerce`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/commerce