What does "merchant" mean?

Additional senses

1. 2.One who keeps a store or shop for the sale of goods; a shopkeeper. [U. S. & Scot.]
2. 3.Of, pertaining to, or employed in, trade or merchandise; as, the merchant service. Merchant bar, Merchant iron or steel, certain common sizes of wrought iron and steel bars. -- Merchant service, the mercantile marine of a country. Am. Cyc. -- Merchant ship, a ship employed in commerce. -- Merchant tailor, a tailor who keeps and sells materials for the garments which he makes.
3. 4.To be a merchant; to trade. [Obs.]