market seller; merchant
Archaic term for a person who sells goods in a city market; not used in modern Japanese.
In old documents, '市人' is recorded as selling goods at the market.
city resident
Archaic term for a person living in a city; replaced by modern words like 市民 or 都会人.
'市人' appears in old literature as a word for a city dweller.
Compound of 市 (market/city) and 人 (person). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern for occupational or residential terms.