【Commercial】 , 【mercantile】 are comparable when they mean of, relating to, or dealing with the supplying of commodities.
【Commercial】 is the more widely applicable term: it may be used in reference to anything which has to do with the buying or selling of commodities for profit, with their transportation, and sometimes, aven, with their production, or with business affairs in general; thus, a 【commercial】 transaction is any piece of business involving a buyer and seller of goods or property that is for the financial benefit of the seller; 【commercial】 law deals with all matters (as contracts, negotiable papers, liens, payment of debts, and partnerships) that have reference to business; a 【commercial】 attaché is, in the United States, an officer of the Department of Commerce attached by the Department of State to an embassy or legation in a country where trade is important.
Also, 【commercial】 is used to describe whatever has for its aim financial profit or is guided by the methods or practices of business.
【Mercantile】 is often used interchangeably with 【commercial】 with little difference in meaning; thus, a 【mercantile】 transaction is not ordinarily distinguishable from a 【commercial】 transaction, nor 【mercantile】 law from 【commercial】 law. The term, however, more often suggests actual buying and selling (the occupation of a merchant) than commerce in general including production and transportation and is therefore more restricted in its application; thus, a 【commercial】 house is a business or company engaged in foreign or domestic commerce; a 【mercantile】 house is a business, usually wholesale, engaged in merchandising.
