I. ˈmärkə̇t, ˈmȧk-, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French, from Latin mercatus trade, marketplace, from mercatus, past participle of mercari to trade, from merc-, merx ware, merchandise; akin to Oscan a miricadut without remuneration, and perhaps to Greek marptein to seize, Sanskrit mṛśati he touches; basic meaning: to seize
1.
a.
(1) : a meeting together of people at a stated time and place for the purpose of traffic (as in cattle, provisions, or wares) by private purchase and sale and usually not by auction
(2) : the people assembled at such a meeting
(3) : the privilege in English law of having a public market
b.
(1) : a public place (as an open space in a town or a large building) where a market is held : marketplace ; specifically : a place where provisions are sold at wholesale
the city market
fish market
(2) : a retail establishment usually of a specified kind
a meat market
2. archaic
a. : the act or an instance of buying and selling
every man will speak of the fair as his own market has gone in it — Laurence Sterne
b. : an object of bargaining or dealing
c. : opportunity for buying or selling — usually used in the phrases lose one's market or overstand one's market
3.
a. : the rate or price offered for commodities : market price
b. : the current bid and asked price for a security or other property
ask the broker for the market on this stock
4. : a sphere within which price-making forces operate and in which exchanges in title tend to be followed by actual movement of goods: as
a. : a geographical area of demand for commodities
sell in the southern market
the world market
b. : the course of commercial activity by which the exchange of commodities is effected : condition with respect to demand : extent of demand
the market is dull
the following prices … are eloquent of the declining market — New Biology
c. : a formal organized coming together of buyers and sellers of goods
the stock market
the livestock market
5. : a unit of volume in the lumber trade represented by a log 19 inches in diameter at the small end inside the bark and 13 feet long and containing approximately 200 board feet
•
- at the market
- away from the market
- in the market
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
: to deal in a market : to go to market to buy or sell
transitive verb
1. : to expose for sale in a market : traffic in : sell in a market
2. : sell
III. noun
1. : the available supply of or potential demand for specified goods or services
the labor market
has captured more than two-thirds of the cleaning-agent market — Barry Commoner
2. : a specified category of potential buyers
youth market