Mercer (occupation)

Mercery (from French mercerie, the notions trade) initially referred to silk, linen, and fustian textiles imported to England in the 12th century.

The term later extended to goods made of these and the sellers of those goods.

The term for cloth merchants (from French mercier, "notions dealer") is now largely obsolete. Mercers were formerly merchants or traders who dealt in cloth, typically fine cloth that was not produced locally. Inventories of mercers in small towns, however, suggest that many were shopkeepers who dealt in various dry commodities other than cloth. Related occupations include haberdasher, draper and cloth merchant, while clothier historically referred to someone who manufactured cloth, often under the domestic system.

By the 21st century the word mercer was primarily used in connection with the Worshipful Company of Mercers, one of the twelve great Liveries Companies of the City of London.

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