MERCANTILE a.
expedition of the Argonauts was partly mercantile, partly military. Arbuthnot. Mercantile agency, an agency for procuring information of the standing and credit of merchants in different parts of the country, for the use of dealers who sell to them. -- Mercantile marine, the persons and vessels employed in commerce, t…
MISCHIEF n.
Harm; damage; esp., disarrangement of order; trouble or vexation caused by human agency or by some living being, intentionally or not; often, calamity, mishap; trivial evil caused by thoughtlessness, or in sport. Chaucer. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Ps. lii. 2. The practice whereof shall, I hope, secure me from many…
PER prep.
Through; by means of; through the agency of; by; for; for each; as, per annum; per capita, by heads, or according to individuals; per curiam, by the court; per se, by itself, of itself. Per is also sometimes used with English words. Per annum, by the year; in each successive year; annually. -- Per cent, Per centum, by…