mercer
/ˈməːsə
/noun British, chiefly historical
A dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvets, and other fine materials.Allders started life in 1862 when 24-year-old Joshua Allder set up a linen draper and silk mercer at 102 and 103 North End....
- Others, like vintners, mercers, and drapers, dealt in goods brought into the town from more distant parts.
- Its streets were ‘handsome and broad, full of the shops of jewellers, goldsmiths, lapidaries, carpet weavers, silk mercers and other artisans.’
Derivatives
mercery
/ noun ...- To this day Prato is still the headquarters of the Italian mercery and clothing business.
- You also got merceries which are just like you with their own stuff but you got no control over them.
- Here we have 3 machine dealers, two quilting stores, one couturier fabric place and several merceries of varying usefulness.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French mercier, based on Latin merx, merc- 'goods'.