mercenary : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: mercenary	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for mercenary
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
mercenary adj marked by materialism [syn: materialistic, mercenary, worldly-minded] serving for wages in a foreign army; "mercenary killers" Synonym(s): mercenary(a), free-lance(a), freelance(a) profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business" Synonym(s): mercantile, mercenary, moneymaking(a) n a person hired to fight for another country than their own Synonym(s): mercenary, soldier of fortune
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mercenary \Mer"cenary\, a. [OE. mercenarie, F. mercenaire, fr. L. mercenarius, fr. merces wages, reward. See {Mercy}.] 1. Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers. 2. Hence: Moved by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish. --Shak. For God forbid I should my papers blot With mercenary lines, with servile pen. --Daniel. Syn: See {Venal}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mercenary \Mer"cenary\, n.; pl. {Mercenaries}. One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service. --Milman.