Link Centre Dictionary

mercenary

mer·ce·nary

US/ˈmɜː.sə.nə.ɹi/ fairly common

noun

1.

a person hired to fight for another country than their own

adjective

2.

used of soldiers hired by a foreign army

Synonyms
Similar
3.

profit oriented

  • “a commercial book”
  • “preached a mercantile and militant patriotism” John Buchan
  • “a mercenary enterprise”
  • “a moneymaking business”

Origin

From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius (“hired for money”), from mercēs (“reward, wages, price”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.