Meaning & use
market town
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Meaning
nouncountableBritish
A town, especially in a rural area, where people have traditionally met to buy and sell goods and farm animals on set days.
Grammar: Takes a/the or plural: a market town, several market towns.
Patterns
- a market town in somewhere
- a historic market town
Ludlow is a pretty market town in the west of England.
Farmers still bring their produce to the market town every Friday.
We stopped in a quiet market town for tea.
Word forms
| plural | market towns |
|---|
Common combinations
- a historic market town
- They moved to a historic market town in Shropshire.
- a thriving market town
- The area has a thriving market town with a busy square.
- a small market town
- She grew up in a small market town near the border.
- a charming market town
- We visited a charming market town on our trip.
- a rural market town
- The rural market town is lively on market day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- country town
- Country town is looser and means any small town in the countryside, not necessarily one with a market.
- small town
- Small town describes size and atmosphere, while market town describes the town's trading role.
- township
- Township is an administrative term in some countries and does not suggest markets.
- trading post
- Trading post means a remote store for trade, so it is not a real alternative for a historic town.
Opposites
Word family
- market noun
- a place where goods are bought and sold
- town noun
- a settlement larger than a village
- market day noun
- the day the market is held
- market square noun
- the open space where the market is held
Commonly confused: market town or market town vs city?
market town vs market town vs city
A city is larger and often has a cathedral or major institutions, while a market town is smaller and defined by its trading history.
Practice
Which place is most likely to be called a market town?
Choose one answer.
A market town has a tradition of regular markets and is usually small. A capital city is too big, and the other choices have no trading history.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “market town”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.