market town
1
3.1
- noun
- /ˈmɑːkɪt taʊn/
- UK
:
pueblo mercado
- The main market town, Dorking, and the surrounding rural area appear to be prosperous and continuing to grow.
In the UK we have found victims in the big cities, in the the market towns, in the villages, in the countryside, the length and breadth of this country.
- In the UK we have found victims in the big cities, in the the market towns, in the villages, in the countryside, the length and breadth of this country.
- The people in this village have a very good idea what goods they can sell in in the market town.
Examples
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Speaker, the the small businesses of North Dorset's market towns play a vital role in our local economy.
-
Above the confluence of these two rivers is the town of Tenom, the district center and market town for the local people.
Academic text (1993) -
Local market areas were based upon small market towns within a particular country.
-
The bus ran through a number of market towns.
Academic text (2007) -
Her father was a doctor in a small market town in Somerset, and her mother, up to the time of Celia's birth, had been a teacher.
Fiction book (1994) -
By 1850, it was a flourishing market town, and in the next decade, it became the biggest west of Springfield.
Academic text (2005) -
Today, Aksum is a dusty regional market town of about 50,000 in northern Ethiopia.
Academic text (2009) -
There are more than 300 languages spoken in London schools, 150-plus in many other cities, and as many as 65 in even small market towns like Boston, Lincolnshire.
Academic text (2008) -
Farmers bring their cattle to the market town of Dumfries.
-
Any surplus, including cheese or wine, would be taken for sale in the nearest market town.
How Big
- UK
1
3.1
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a town that holds a market' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'market' (a place for buying/selling) with 'town' (a settlement). This straightforward noun–noun compounding pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The compound noun market town comes from a simple image: a town with a regular market in its square where people from nearby villages came to buy and sell. That's why 'market town' means 'a town that can hold a market'.