The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Market \Mar"ket\, n. [Akin to D. markt, OHG. mark[=a]t,
   merk[=a]t, G. markt; all fr.L. mercatus trade, market place,
   fr. mercari, p. p. mercatus, to trade, traffic, merx, mercis,
   ware, merchandise, prob. akin to merere to deserve, gain,
   acquire: cf. F. march['e]. See Merit, and cf. Merchant,
   Mart.]
   1. A meeting together of people, at a stated time and place,
      for the purpose of buying and selling (as cattle,
      provisions, wares, etc.) by private purchase and sale, and
      not by auction; as, a market is held in the town every
      week; a farmers' market.
      [1913 Webster]

            He is wit's peddler; and retails his wares
            At wakes, and wassails, meetings, markets, fairs.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            Three women and a goose make a market. --Old Saying.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A public place (as an open space in a town) or a large
      building, where a market is held; a market place or market
      house; esp., a place where provisions are sold.
      [1913 Webster]

            There is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool.
                                                  --John v. 2.
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   3. An opportunity for selling or buying anything; demand, as
      shown by price offered or obtainable; as, to find a market
      for one's wares; there is no market for woolen cloths in
      that region; India is a market for English goods; there
      are none for sale on the market; the best price on the
      market.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

            There is a third thing to be considered: how a
            market can be created for produce, or how production
            can be limited to the capacities of the market. --J.
                                                  S. Mill.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Exchange, or purchase and sale; traffic; as, a dull
      market; a slow market.
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   5. The price for which a thing is sold in a market; market
      price. Hence: Value; worth.
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            What is a man
            If his chief good and market of his time
            Be but to sleep and feed?             --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Eng. Law) The privelege granted to a town of having a
      public market.
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   7. A specified group of potential buyers, or a region in
      which goods may be sold; a town, region, or country, where
      the demand exists; as, the under-30 market; the New Jersey
      market.
      [PJC]

   Note: Market is often used adjectively, or in forming
         compounds of obvious meaning; as, market basket, market
         day, market folk, market house, marketman, market
         place, market price, market rate, market wagon, market
         woman, and the like.
         [1913 Webster]

   Market beater, a swaggering bully; a noisy braggart. [Obs.]
      --Chaucer.

   Market bell, a bell rung to give notice that buying and
      selling in a market may begin. [Eng.] --Shak.

   Market cross, a cross set up where a market is held.
      --Shak.

   Market garden, a garden in which vegetables are raised for
      market.

   Market gardening, the raising of vegetables for market.

   Market place, an open square or place in a town where
      markets or public sales are held.

   Market town, a town that has the privilege of a stated
      public market.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

market place
    n 1: an area in a town where a public mercantile establishment
         is set up [syn: marketplace, market place, mart,
         market]
    2: the world of commercial activity where goods and services are
       bought and sold; "without competition there would be no
       market"; "they were driven from the marketplace" [syn:
       market, marketplace, market place]