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mercenary

noun
/ˈmɜː.sə.nə.ɹi/UK/ˈmɝ.sə.ˌnɛɹ.i/CA

Etymology

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

  1. derived from mercēnārius — “hired for money”
  2. inherited from mercenarye — “someone paid to work, hireling”

Definitions

  1. One motivated by gain, especially monetary.

    • J. Argyrofylus, a mercenary Greek, who came to teach school in Italy, after the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks, used to maintain that Cicero understood neither Philosophy nor Greek

  2. A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or…

    A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose primary motivation is private gain.

    • If a mercenary died, that was one fewer man to pay. Mercenaries were an efficient way to run a military campaign especially in view of the employer's ability to hire and fire when and if the situation demanded
    • The combat fatigues worn by the vehicle personnel did not appear to be standard military issue, more similar to what you would expect mercenaries to wear. Mercenaries, loyal to nothing except themselves and their off-shore bank accounts.

  3. One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a…

    One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a political campaign.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Motivated by personal gain.

      • Success is never so interesting as struggle—not even to the successful, not even to the most mercenary forms of ambition.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for mercenary. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA