Word: market Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English market, from late Old English market (“market”) and Anglo-Norman markiet (Old French marchié); all ultimately from Latin mercātus (“trade, market”), from mercor (“to trade, deal in, buy”), itself derived from merx (“wares, merchandise”). Cognate with West Frisian merk (“market”), Dutch markt, German Markt, Danish and Norwegian marked (“market”), Faroese and Icelandic markaður (“market”), Swedish marknad (“market”). Pronunciation: /ˈmɑːkɪt/, /ˈmɑɹkɪt/, /ˈmɑɹkət/ 1. A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of merchandise, often periodic at a set time. Example: The right to hold a weekly market was an invaluable privilege not given to all towns in the Middle Ages. Example: There's a market every Thursday and Saturday in the town square. 2. A relatively spacious outdoor or covered site where traders set up stalls, either temporarily or permanently or semi-permanently, and buyers browse the merchandise. Example: This site on North Street used to be the market, until it was redeveloped. Example: ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘[…] They tell me there was a recognized swag market down here.’ 3. Any physical store selling groceries, such as a grocery store or convenience store. Example: Stop by the market on your way home and pick up some milk. Example: Mixes [such as cake mixes, pancake mixes, or sauce mixes] are sometimes a reasonable alternative and sometimes not. […] Pancake mixes often offer no advantages at all. Nonetheless, there are times when you would be foolish not to use a mix. Perhaps a domestic emergency occurs. Perhaps cupcakes must be brought to school tomorrow morning, but when you stop at the market on your way home from work, you cannot remember whether you have baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, nutmeg, cake flour, chocolate, or vanilla on your shelf, or you want to go through the “five items or fewer” line. So you buy the mix. Only a glutton for punishment would do otherwise. 4. A group of potential or current customers for one's product. Example: We believe that the market for the new widget will be the older homeowner. Example: Senior citizens are our core market at present, and we can't afford to alienate them as we explore other markets. 5. A geographical area or region where a certain commercial demand exists. Example: Foreign markets were lost as our currency rose versus their valuta. 6. A formally organized, sometimes monopolistic, system of trading in specified goods or effects. Example: The stock market ceased to be monopolized by the paper-shuffling national stock exchanges with the advent of Internet markets. Example: As they were approaching bankruptcy from being knocked out of the calculator market, they began development on the first commercially available microcomputer, the Altair. 7. The sum total traded in a process of individuals trading for certain commodities. 8. The price for which a thing is sold in a market; hence, value or worth; market value. Example: Q: What's the market on such a thing, nowadays? A: Oh, no less than forty, I should reckon. Example: What is a man If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed?