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Commodities are things that are useful, or that satisfy human needs. The requirements to which commodities are applied may be fundamental – such as food or shelter – or they may be more ephemeral, such as the desire to appear attractive or successful. The term “commodity” dates back to the late Middle Ages and once carried a variety of meanings, including advantage, convenience, ease, or, in Elizabethan slang, a woman or her genitals. As it is understood today, however, a commodity is a product that is bought and sold. This narrowing of the term came about with the rise of capitalism as the central organizing principle of Euro‐American economic and social life.

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