Defn: The quality or state of being mercenary; venality. Boyle.
MERCENARY Mer"ce*na*ry, a. Etym: [OE. mercenarie, F. mercenaire, fr. L. mercenarius, fr. merces wages, reward. See Mercy.]
1. Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers.
2. Hence: Moved by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. Shak. For God forbid I should my papers blot With mercenary lines, with servile pen. Daniel.
Syn.
— See Venal.
MERCENARY
Mer"ce*na*ry, n.; pl. Mercenaries (.
Defn: One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. Milman.
MERCER Mer"cer, n. Etym: [F. mercier, fr. L. merx, mercis, wares, merchandise. See Merchant.]
Defn: Originally, a dealer in any kind of goods or wares; now restricted to a dealer in textile fabrics, as silks or woolens. [Eng.]
MERCERIZE
Mer"cer*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. -ized; p. pr. & vb. n. -izing.]
[From (John) Mercer (1791-1866), an English calico printer who
introduced the process + -ize.]