What is a Commodity

There are several answers to the question “What is a commodity?” according to the subject being dealt with.

So, what is a commodity?

The general dictionary definitions of this noun are:

Commodity =

• Something useful.
• Something valued.
• A valuable quality.
• Something that is beneficial.
• A commercial advantage.
• Something intended to be sold at a profit.
• A physical substance.
• Raw materials purchased by manufacturers to make other products.
• A good or service that can be readily exchanged or exploited within a market.

There is also an archaic meaning: a quantity or lot of goods.

What is a Commodity from a business point of view?

• A tangible good, merchandise, produce, ware, product, resource or article (as opposed to a service) that can be traded, bought, sold or bartered and turned to the advantage of the owner.
• Something produced for exchange and most often used as an input in the production of other goods and not for the producers personal use.
• An article of commerce especially when transferred for shipment.
• A mass-produced non-specialised product.
• A good or service whose general availability means smaller profit margins are attainable and the importance of factors, other than price, diminished.

What is a Commodity from an Economics and Trade point of view?

• A basic economic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with others of the same type.

• Any product manufactured or grown.

• A product of excavation (mining or extrusion) or farming.

• A primary product or raw material.

• An exchangeable unit of economic wealth.

• Any fungible (little differentiation between a commodity coming from one producer and the same commodity from another producer) bulk good or product for which there is demand. A commodity is traded in large quantities on an authorised commodities exchange, derivative market or bought for cash or on the spot market. Its quality standards and price are objective and universally applicable and supplied without qualitative differentiation, that is it fluctuates based on market influences, global supply and demand and is indistinguishable from any other good in its category. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers. Spot markets are those in which the commodity is traded immediately in exchange for cash or some other good. The cash market can extend to physical delivery over a period of time through a contract to purchase. In both these cases the actual good is delivered at some point in time. In derivatives markets, futures or options are traded and not the good itself. Here a future or option contract to buy or sell is enacted for the commodity for a certain price, to mature by a stated future date. When they are traded on an exchange, commodities must also meet specified minimum standards.

What is a Commodity from a Geographic point of view?

• An item of value economically, intended for exchange in a capitalistic economic system. In these systems there are two important commodities: workforce (labour) and exchange (money). Filières (commodity chains or commodity networks) are connections between production, circulation and the consumption of goods.

What is a Commodity from a Philosophy point of view?

• A commodity is a product form the existence of which is determined through exchange. Commodities have two values:

  (i) in satisfaction of a need or desire, and

  (ii) their use as a means of exchange. Money is the personification of value in exchange, enabling different goods to be evaluated against each other.

What is a Commodity from a Law perspective?

• A tangible (having a physical existence) product that is capable of being bought or sold.

• Something produced for commerce.

What is a Commodity from a Vetinary perspective?

• Commodity is a term used for cattle feedstuffs that are by-products from other food industries. 

The original meaning came down to English from 15^th Century Middle English:

• commoditee, meaning convenience, suitability, expediency, benefit or privilege.

It was originally from Latin

• commoditātem, nominative commoditās, meaning fitness, adaptation,

from the Latin root

• commod-us, meaning appropriate, proper measure, condition or time,

via Old- or Anglo-French

• commodité, meaning to benefit or profit.

  1488 - convenience.

  1632 - opportunity; occasion.

  1682 - the quality of being commodious; commodiousness.

  1788 - expediency.

  1836 - advantage; profit; selfish interest.

Commodity is a noun. The plural of commodity is commodities.

Pronunciation: kə-ˈmä-də-tē

What is Commodity in non-English Languages?

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سلعه, بضاعه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
חפץ, מצרך

中文简体(Chinese (Simplified))
日用品, 有用的物品, 商品

中文繁體(Chinese (Traditional))
日用品, 有用的物品, 商品

Čechoslovák (Czech)
tovar, artikl, druh zboí, zboí, produkt

Dansk (Danish)
produkt, bekvemmelighed

Deutsch (German)
Ware, Erzeugnis, Gebrauchsgegenstand

Ελληνική (Greek)
αγαθό, αντικείμενο χρησιμότητας ή αξίας, (διαπραγματεύσιμο) εμπόρευμα

Español (Spanish)
mercancía, artículo, producto, mercadería

Français (French)
article, denrée

მეტყველება (Georgian)
საქონელი

Italiano (Italian)
derrata

日本語 (Japanese)
日用品, 商品

한국어 (Korean)
상품 , 유용한 물건

Magyar (Hungarian)
árucikk, áruhitel

Nederlands (Dutch)
handelswaar, handig iets

Português (Portuguese)
mercadoria, utilidade

Русский (Russian)
товар, предмет потребления

Srpski (Serbian)
roba, udobnost, artikal

Suomalainen (Finnish)
tavara

Svenska (Swedish)
handelsvara, artikel

ภาษา (Thai)
สินค้า,ของใช้ประจำ,ปริมาณ หรือจำนวนหนึ่งของสินค้า,ผลิตภัณฑ์เกษตรหรือเหมืองแร่

український (Ukrainian)
товар, товарний, крам