Definition of mercenary Mercenary

/mɚˈsʌnɛˌɹi/ - [mersuneree] - mer•ce•nar•y

We found 12 definitions of mercenary from 6 different sources.

What does mercenary mean?

Noun Plural: mercenaries
mercenary - a person hired to fight for another country than their own
		soldier of fortune
		adventurer, venturer a person who enjoys taking risks
Adjective
mercenary - serving for wages in a foreign army; "mercenary killers"
		free-lance, freelance
		paid marked by the reception of pay; "paid work"; "a paid official"; "a paid announcement"; "a paid check"
mercenary - profit oriented; "a commercial book"; "preached a mercantile and militant patriotism"- John Buchan; "a mercenary enterprise"; "a moneymaking business"
		mercantile, moneymaking
		commercial connected with or engaged in or sponsored by or used in commerce or commercial enterprises; "commercial trucker"; "commercial TV"; "commercial diamonds"
mercenary - marked by materialism
		materialistic, worldly-minded
		worldly, secular, temporal characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world; "worldly goods and advancement"; "temporal possessions of the church"

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mercenary (Noun)
A person employed to fight in an armed conflict who is not a member of the state or military group for which they are fighting and whose prime or sole motivation is private gain.
mercenary (Adjective)
Motivated by private gain.

mercenary (a.)
Acting for reward; serving for pay; paid; hired; hireling; venal; as, mercenary soldiers.
mercenary (a.)
Hence: Moved by considerations of pay or profit; greedy of gain; sordid; selfish.
mercenary (n.)
One who is hired; a hireling; especially, a soldier hired into foreign service.

Mercenaries are soldiers who fight mainly for money, rather than for their country or for their political beliefs.

For many years in the Middle Ages soldiers from Switzerland fought battles for which ever side paid them. The popes would hire soldiers from Switzerland to fight for them. The Swiss Guard is all that is left of Switzerland's mercenary tradition. However the modern Swiss Guard are not mercenaries, because the guards are all catholic and are prepared to fight not for their country but for their beliefs.

In 2004, Sir Mark Thatcher was arrested in connection with an attempt by mercenaries to take over the country of Equatorial Guinea. Thatcher, son of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was eventually fined because of his involvement in giving funds to the leaders, but not with planning the fighting.