Market (?), n. [Akin to D. markt, OHG. markāt, merkāt, G. markt; all fr.L. mercatus trade, market place, fr. mercari, p. p. mercatus, to trade, traffic, merx, mercis, ware, merchandise, prob. akin to merere to deserve, gain, acquire: cf. F. marché. See Merit, and cf. Merchant, Mart.]
1. A meeting together of people, at a stated time and place, for the purpose of buying and selling (as cattle, provisions, wares, etc.) by private purchase and sale, and not by auction; as, “a market is held in the town every week; a farmers' market”.
[1913 Webster]
He is wit's peddler; and retails his wares
At wakes, and wassails, meetings, markets, fairs. Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Three women and a goose make a market. Old Saying.
[1913 Webster]
2. A public place (as an open space in a town) or a large building, where a market is held; a market place or market house; esp., a place where provisions are sold.
[1913 Webster]
There is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool. John v. 2.
[1913 Webster]
3. An opportunity for selling or buying anything; demand, as shown by price offered or obtainable; as, “to find a market for one's wares; there is no market for woolen cloths in that region; India is a market for English goods; there are none for sale on the market; the best price on the market.”
[1913 Webster +PJC]
There is a third thing to be considered: how a market can be created for produce, or how production can be limited to the capacities of the market. J. S. Mill.
[1913 Webster]
4. Exchange, or purchase and sale; traffic; as, “a dull market; a slow market.”
[1913 Webster]
5. The price for which a thing is sold in a market; market price. Hence: Value; worth.
[1913 Webster]
What is a man
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? Shak.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Eng. Law) The privelege granted to a town of having a public market.
[1913 Webster]
7. A specified group of potential buyers, or a region in which goods may be sold; a town, region, or country, where the demand exists; as, “the under-30 market; the New Jersey market”.
[PJC]
☞ Market is often used adjectively, or in forming compounds of obvious meaning; as, market basket, market day, market folk, market house, marketman, market place, market price, market rate, market wagon, market woman, and the like.
[1913 Webster]
Market beater, a swaggering bully; a noisy braggart. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Market bell, a bell rung to give notice that buying and selling in a market may begin. [Eng.] Shak. -- Market cross, a cross set up where a market is held. Shak. -- Market garden, a garden in which vegetables are raised for market. -- Market gardening, the raising of vegetables for market. -- Market place, an open square or place in a town where markets or public sales are held. -- Market town, a town that has the privilege of a stated public market.
[1913 Webster]