Refine this word faster
Mercenary
Definitions
- 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."
- 1 profit oriented wordnet
- 2 serving for wages in a foreign army wordnet
- 3 marked by materialism wordnet
- 1 One motivated by gain, especially monetary. archaic
"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 hired to fight for another country than their own wordnet
- 3 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.
"He exhorts the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects by the example of manly virtue; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp; to substitute in the place of the Barbarian mercenaries, an army of men interested in the defence of their laws and of their property"
- 4 One hired to engage in a figurative battle, as a corporate takeover, a lawsuit, or a political campaign. figuratively
Etymology
From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius (“hired for money”), from mercēs (“reward, wages, price”).
From Middle English mercenarye (“someone paid to work, hireling”), from Latin mercēnārius (“hired for money”), from mercēs (“reward, wages, price”).
See also for "mercenary"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: mercenary