Etymologically
Log in

Markt

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 17:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /markt/, [maʁkt], [maɐ̯kt][1]

Forms

Markt m (genitive Marktes or Markts, plural Märkte)[1] In High German the word is masculine, but in Middle Low German usually neuter.[2] Dialects and Goethe also have Mark without the final t.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German market, inherited from Old High German markāt, borrowed from Late Latin marcātus, a variant of Latin mercātus (“trade, purchase, market”), a noun from mercor (“to trade”), from merx (“goods, wares”).[4][5][6] It is an early West Germanic loan, also in Old Saxon markāt, Middle Low German market and Dutch markt;[6][5] Old English market and Old Norse markaðr are taken by the Grimms and Wahrig to come through the continental Germanic languages rather than directly from Latin.[2][7][4] The Grimms think Roman traders, the mercatores that Caesar already mentions among the Germans, brought the word.[2]

The earliest glosses still show the Latin vowel /e/ beside forms with /a/.[2] The Latin word survives in Italian mercato, Spanish mercado and French marché.[2][4] The origin of the Latin noun for “goods” is not certain.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German markāt is found in glosses from the 8th century, where it renders Latin mercatus and nundinae “market day”, with jârmarchat “annual fair”;[8][2][4] its senses were a market, market place, market stall and shop.[8][9] Middle High German used it also for a market town, merchandise and the market price.[8][10]

Semantic evolution

From the market place and the market as an event the word passed to the trading done there, and in the 19th century to “trade, commerce” in general (1859), with Weltmarkt in the early 19th century.[3] Marktflecken “market town” dates from the 14th century,[3] and Markt is still prefixed as a title to the names of such towns.[1] Seine Haut zu Markte tragen “to risk one's skin” is in Stieler (1691).[3]

After the Second World War came schwarzer Markt (1946–47), and Gemeinsamer Markt is a loan translation of French Marché Commun.[3][11] Supermarkt (second half of the 20th century) follows American English supermarket,[5][6] and Markt alone now also names a supermarket or large store.[3][1] Hungarian marha “cattle”, recorded in 1358, is a borrowing of this word.[12]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German markāt in glosses.[4][8]
  • 1358 – Hungarian marha “cattle” is first recorded.[12]
  • 14th century – Marktflecken “market town”.[3]
  • 1691 – seine Haut zu Markte tragen in Stieler.[3]
  • Early 19th century – Weltmarkt “world market”.[3]
  • 1946–47 – schwarzer Markt “black market”.[3]
  • Second half of the 20th century – Supermarkt.[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A market held regularly in a set place, where traders sell everyday goods from stalls: Samstags gehen wir auf den Markt.[11][1]
  2. A market place, the central square of a town: Das Rathaus steht am Markt.[11][1]
  3. Supply and demand, the buying and selling of goods: ein neues Produkt auf den Markt bringen.[11][1]
  4. (in compounds) A large shop: Supermarkt, Baumarkt.[1][3]
  5. A market town, as a title before a place name.[1][13]

Word family

  • Jahrmarkt
  • Wochenmarkt
  • Marktplatz
  • Marktflecken
  • Supermarkt
  • Weltmarkt
  • Flohmarkt
  • Marktlücke
  • Marketender
  • kommerziell
  • English market

Usage notes

Der schwarze Markt is the illegal trade in forbidden or rationed goods, and der Gemeinsame Markt was the European Economic Community.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 1644
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 602
  5. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 536
  7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 216
  10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  11. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  13. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org