Commerce
Commerce may have a legal definition[1] and a more general definition which is “an interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale between different countries (foreign commerce) or between different parts of the same country (domestic commerce) trade; business.”
It is also defined in other senses as:
- 2. social relations, especially the exchange of views, attitudes, etc.
- 3. sexual intercourse.
- 4. intellectual or spiritual interchange; communion.
- COMMERCE is not just a trade by contracts but is done with an intent to realize a profit. A profit is a "benefit" beyond the exchange of the value of a thing. Profit is gain and to trade for gain is an expression of intent.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
- COMMERCE, trade, contracts. The exchange of commodities for commodities; considered in a legal point of view, it consists in the various agreements which have for their object to facilitate the exchange of the products of the earth or industry of man, with an intent to realize a profit. Pard. Dr. Coin. n. 1. In a narrower sense, commerce signifies any reciprocal agreements between two persons, by which one delivers to the other a thing, which the latter accepts, and for which he pays a consideration; if the consideration be money, it is called a sale; if any other thing than money, it is called exchange or barter. Domat, Dr. Pub. liv. 1, tit. 7, s. 1, n. 2. Congress have power by the constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. 1 Kent. 431; Story on Corst. 1052, et seq. The sense in which the word commerce is used in the constitution seems not only to include traffic, but intercourse and navigation. Story, 1057; 9 Wheat. 190, 191, 215, 229; 1 Tuck. Bl. App. 249 to 252. Vide 17 John. R. 488; 4 John. Ch. R. 150; 6 John. Ch. R. 300; 1 Halst. R. 285; Id. 236; 3 Cowen R. 713; 12 Wheat. R. 419; 1 Brock. R. 423; 11 Pet. R. 102; 6 Cowen, R. 169; 3 Dana, R. 274; 6 Pet. R. 515; 13 S. & R. 205.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
CAPITAL, political economy, commerce. In political economy, it is that portion of the produce of a country, which may be made directly available either to support the human species or to the facilitating of production.
2. In commerce, as applied to individuals, it is those objects, whether consisting of money or other property, which a merchant, trader, or other person adventures in an undertaking, or which he contributes to the common stock of a partnership. 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1458.
3. It signifies money put out at interest.
4. The fund of a trading company or corporation is also called capital, but in this sense the word stock is generally added to it; thus we say the capital stock of the Bank of North America.
- ↑ The exchange of goods, products, or any type of Personal Property. Trade and traffic carried on between different peoples or states and its inhabitants, including not only the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities but also the instrumentalities, agencies, and means by which business is accomplished. The transportation of persons and goods, by air, land, and sea. The exchange of merchandise on a large scale between different places or communities.
Although the terms commerce and trade are often used interchangeably, commerce refers to large-scale business activity, while trade describes commercial traffic within a state or a community.