Kaupandi

Kaupandi is a term that appears in Estonian-language historical and linguistic sources to refer to a person who engages in trade, effectively a merchant or trader. In earlier texts, a kaupandi might be the party offering goods, negotiating terms, or acting as a trading partner in a contract. In modern Estonian, the term is not in common use; more common words for a trader are kaupmees (merchant) and kaupleja (trader).

The word is formed from the stem kaup meaning "goods" or "trade" and the suffix -andi, which is used in Estonian to form agent nouns meaning "one who does X" or "a person associated with X." As such, kaupandi can be understood as "the one engaged in trade."

Historically, kaupandi appears in legal and commercial documents dating to the medieval and early modern periods, where contracts describe obligations between kaupandi and other parties. The term signals the person who supplies goods or negotiates the sale, rather than a general concept of commerce.

Today, with the standardization of Estonian vocabulary, references to kaupandi are typically limited to historical contexts or linguistic discussions. Related terms include kaupmees (merchant), kaupleja (trader), and kaubandus (commerce).