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Synonyms

mart

1 American  
[mahrt] / mɑrt /

noun

  1. market; trading center; trade center.

  2. a building, center, or exposition for the sale of goods by manufacturers and wholesalers to retail merchants.

  3. Archaic. a fair.

  4. Obsolete. bargain.

mart 2 American  
[mahrt] / mɑrt /

noun

Scot. and North England.

  1. a cow or ox fattened for slaughter.

mart British  
/ mɑːt /

noun

  1. a market or trading centre

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mart1

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle Dutch mar ( c ) t market

Origin of mart2

1300–50; Middle English < Scots Gaelic; compare MIr mart ox or cow slaughtered for meat, carcass, hence a live ox or cow

Vocabulary lists containing mart

"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 1

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

According to the logline, the fifth season will pick up two years later with Francesca deciding to reenter the marriage mart “for practical reasons.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

"Two years after losing her beloved husband John, Fran decides to re-enter the marriage mart for practical reasons," a Netflix release revealed.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

People may say they would be satisfied with winning a smaller sum, but it’s the giant jackpots that prompt people to drop a few dollars on a Powerball ticket at the mini mart.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2023

She shows copies of ship manifests and receipts for sold enslaved people, and ends up at a building constructed as an enslaved person mart in the 1850s.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2022

The waste mart man turned to Kumar’s gang.

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.