Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mercenary"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mercenary \Mer"ce*na*ry\, 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"ce*na*ry\, n.; pl. {Mercenaries}.
One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired
into foreign service. --Milman.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mercenary
adj 1: marked by materialism [syn: {materialistic}, {worldly-minded}]
2: used of soldiers hired by a foreign army [syn: {mercenary(a)},
{freelance(a)}]
3: profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile
and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary
enterprise"; "a moneymaking business" [syn: {mercantile},
{moneymaking(a)}]
n : a person hired to fight for another country than their own
[syn: {soldier of fortune}]
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