This article discusses the relationship among different mercantile practices and their reflection on the terms used to define the individuals that exercised them. Furthermore, the text examines the vocabulary issues to define the traders, and their relationship to the social status of the merchants in Minas Gerais, and the strategies of social distinction adopted by this group at different points of progress.
Social vocabulary; Commercial activities; Traders; Minas Gerais; Congregation of the Holy Office
