means A place or system where buyers and sellers come together to trade goods, services, or money, with prices set by their collective haggling and demand.

from From Latin 'mercatus,' meaning trade or marketplace, from 'mercari,' to buy or trade — itself rooted in 'merx,' merchandise or wares. The same Latin source fans out across Europe into French 'marché,' Italian 'mercato,' and Spanish 'mercado.' It's also a cousin of words like 'merchant,' 'commerce,' and even 'Mercury,' the Roman god of trade and tricksters — fitting, perhaps, for a place built on bargaining.