Meaning
In Mexican Spanish, including Mexico City, a tianguis is a temporary or periodic open-air market made up of stalls that are set up in a particular place, often on a recurring day, to sell or exchange many kinds of goods.
How it is used
The Diccionario del español de México defines tianguis as a group of temporary stalls that generally installs in a particular place on a fixed day of the week. Mexico City's economic-development open-data portal maintains a dataset specifically for tianguis locations in the capital, showing that the word remains part of current administrative as well as everyday vocabulary.
Examples
- “El domingo ponen un tianguis en varias calles del barrio.”
- “Compramos fruta y ropa en el tianguis.”
Pronunciation
/ˈtjaŋɡis/ · TYAN-gees
Tone and register
Neutral and ordinary in Mexican Spanish. Depending on context, a tianguis may range from a small neighborhood market to a very large street-market network.
Visitor guidance
Do not use tianguis as a blanket synonym for every mercado. A permanent indoor or municipal market may be called a mercado, while tianguis usually highlights temporary stalls, street occupation, or a periodic schedule. The term is Mexican, not specifically a Mexico City invention.
Cultural context
Tianguis are part of everyday neighborhood commerce in Mexico City and elsewhere in Mexico. Their recurring schedules, street layouts and mix of food, clothing, household goods and specialized merchandise make the word useful for understanding both local directions and how commercial space changes by day of the week.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.