Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “marketplace” come from?

Marketplace derives from Old French market, from Latin mercatus (a market or trade), built on Latin merx (goods or wares) from Proto-Indo-European pelh₂-.

marketplace (English): An open area in a town housing a public market;...

Definitions

  1. An open area in a town housing a public market;...

Ancestry of “marketplace”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmarketA gathering of people for the purchase and sale...
2Middle Englishmarket—
3Old Norsemarkaðrmarket
4Old Saxonmarkat—
5Latinmarcātus—
6Latinmercatustrade, traffic, buying and selling; market,...
7Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
8Proto-Italic-tus—
9Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “marketplace”

  • nonmarketplace
  • cybermarketplace
  • e-marketplace
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →