"market" in seven languages
Meaningmarket
Spanish
mercado
/meɾˈkado/
masc.inherited
French
marché
/maʁʃe/
masc.inherited
Italian
mercato
/merˈkato/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
mercado
/mehˈkadu/
masc.inherited
An open-air street market is a feira.
Romanian
piață
/ˈpjatsə/
fem.other source · Italian piazza 'square' (Latin PLATEAM)
plural: piețe
Catalan
mercat
/məɾˈkat/
masc.inherited
English
market
/ˈmɑɹkɪt/
from Latin/French · Old North French market
English → ItalianmarketmercatoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
MERCĀTUM‘trade, market (from MERX 'goods')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish voices t to d, Italian keeps it, French drops it altogether and turns ca into ché. Bon marché, 'a good deal', means cheap.
English relatives: market, merchant, commerce, mercantile
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLos sábados voy al mercado.
- frLe samedi, je vais au marché.
- itIl sabato vado al mercato.
- ptAos sábados eu vou ao mercado.
- roSâmbăta merg la piață.
- caEls dissabtes vaig al mercat.
- enOn Saturdays I go to the market.