What does mart mean?
Mart has two well-established noun meanings and a dated verbal use. In its older commercial sense, it means a market or marketplace, with strong associations with village trade, traditional shops, and historical settings. It survives in some regional English but is generally replaced today by the more familiar word “market.” In the bird sense, a mart is a gull-like seabird; the name has been used especially for several species associated with northern oceans, although “gull” is the more common general term. As a verb, mart means to buy or sell at a market or to market goods, but this usage is now dated. The word is useful because it preserves several layers of English: an old term for a place of commerce, a traditional name for seabirds, and a surviving trace of older commercial vocabulary.
A market or marketplace, especially in dated or regional use; also a gull-like seabird, particularly one belonging to groups associated with northern waters.
"Women brought farm produce to the mart before sunrise."
The marketplace meaning is old-fashioned in standard modern English. In the bird sense, the term is less common than “gull.”
To buy or sell at a market; to market goods.
"The company marted its products at regional fairs for many years."
This is a dated usage found chiefly in older writing.
The plural is grammatically standard but uncommon because the marketplace sense is now largely dated or regional.
"The old town once had several marts serving different parts of the community."
Today’s mart may sell nothing at all: the name also belongs to a group of hardy seabirds that spend their lives far from shore.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mart come from?
The commercial sense of mart developed through Old French mart, “market,” from Latin forum, a word for a public marketplace or forum. Its modern form is chiefly preserved in dated, literary, and regional usage. The origin of the separate bird-name is less transparent and should not confidently be derived from the commercial history of the word.
How mart is actually used
The marketplace sense is old-fashioned in standard modern English, although it remains natural in regional speech and in settings such as a medieval market. The bird sense is less common than the general word “gull.” The verb is now dated and chiefly encountered in older writing.