society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town > [noun] > market town (4)
A market town or borough; = port, n.2
A town permitted to hold a market; a town where a market is held regularly. Also: †a trading town (obsolete).
= borough, n. (in various senses; used esp. with reference to places outside Britain). In later use chiefly in French and French-speaking contexts…