marketable

Etymology

It is formed from English market + -able,^[1][2][3][4] from the verb market, though in the earliest quotations perhaps also from the noun.^[1] Johnson simply derived it from market.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fit to be sold; in demand, saleable: 1577, in John Dee's General and Rare Memorials on navigation.^[1] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to about 1600,^[2][6] and Dictionary.com to 1590–1600.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From 1602 it also meant relating to buying and selling, and especially of a price or value, that can be obtained in the market.^[1][3] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "such as may be sold" and "current in the market", quoting Shakespeare.^[5] From 1824 marketables was used as a noun for saleable goods.^[1] Collins applies the word to commodities and assets that are in good demand or fit for sale.^[7]

Timeline

• 1577 – fit to be sold; in demand, saleable.^[1]
• 1602 – relating to buying and selling; of a price or value obtainable in the market.^[1][3]
• 1824 – plural noun, saleable goods.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wanted by buyers; easy to sell: Her coding skills make her very marketable.^[7][6][1]
2. Fit to be offered for sale in a market.^[6][7]
3. Of or relating to buying and selling, as of the price a product can fetch: the marketable value of the land.^[7][6][1]

Noun

1. marketables: goods for sale.^[1]

Word family

• marketability
• marketably
• nonmarketable
• unmarketable

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins