English Word Reference Free

market

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "market", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "market" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "market" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

market is aEnglishnoun. It means: A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of merchandise, often periodic at a set time. Pronounced /ˈmɑːkɪt/. It ranks #513 in English word frequency. Often confused with mart and marks.

Key facts for market
PropertyValue
Headwordmarket
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɑːkɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#513
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of market in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for market is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɑːkɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #513 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for market, with forms such as "amrket", "makret", and "marekt". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mart", "marks", "Marko", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”).… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is market, spelled M-A-R-K-E-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of merchandise, often periodic at a set time.
  2. 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.
  3. 3
    Any physical store selling groceries, such as a grocery store or convenience store.
  4. 4
    A group of potential or current customers for one's product.
  5. 5
    A geographical area or region where a certain commercial demand exists.
  6. 6
    A formally organized, sometimes monopolistic, system of trading in specified goods or effects.
  7. 7
    The sum total traded in a process of individuals trading for certain commodities.
  8. 8
    The price for which a thing is sold in a market; hence, value or worth; market value.

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, Old High German Markt, German Markt, Danish and Norwegian marked (“market”), Faroese and Icelandic markaður (“market”), Swedish marknad (“market”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amrket,makret,marekt,markett,markket,markte,marrket,mmarket,mraket

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for market

Misspelling Variants of "market"

amrket6makret6marekt6markett7markket7markte6marrket7mmarket7
Misspelling Variants of "market"

Frequency rank: #513 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "market"?
"market" is spelled M-A-R-K-E-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɑːkɪt/.
What does "market" mean?
As a noun, "market" means: A gathering of people for the purchase and sale of merchandise, often periodic at a set time.
What words are commonly confused with "market"?
"market" is commonly confused with "mart", "marks", "Marko". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "market"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "market" is /ˈmɑːkɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "market"?
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, merc... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.