English word origin

Etymology of mart

From Middle Dutch mart, markt (“market”) (Modern Dutch markt), from Old Dutch *markat, from Late Latin marcātus, an alternative form of Classical Latin mercātus. See market.

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

noun

A shop, a store, a market. · A bazaar, fair, market, or marketplace. · A bargain.

verb

To buy or sell in, or as in a mart. · To traffic.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle Dutch mart, markt (“market”) (Modern Dutch markt), from Old Dutch *markat, from Late Latin marcātus, an alternative form of Classical Latin mercātus. See market.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentionmartdum
Cognate mentionmarktnl
Derivation mention*markatodt
Derivation mentionmercātusla

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

A battle; a contest.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Latin Mārs. See Mart.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentionMārsla

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

noun

A marque (chiefly used in the phrase letters of mart).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Alternative form of marque, perhaps influenced by Etymology 1 above.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗

noun

A head of feeder cattle or fattened cattle (usually the latter). · Salt beef.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Scottish English, from Middle English, from a Scottish Gaelic root, see mart (“cow prepared for killing”).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for mart →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bWFydA