Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Emporium
/ɛmˈpɔːriəm/noun
A large shop or trading centre, especially one selling a wide range of goods.
The Greek roots
ἐν
en
in, on
πόρος
póros
passage, voyage
Literally: “place of those on a voyage”
The story of the word
An ἔμπορος was originally a man travelling on someone else's ship, then the wholesale merchant who did so, as opposed to the κάπηλος who kept a stall at home. An ἐμπόριον was the port where such men were allowed to trade, like the Greek concession at Naucratis in Egypt. Victorian shopkeepers picked the word up for its grandeur, and the grandeur has since curdled into a joke, which is why the word now mostly appears over shops selling candles and incense.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
aporiaporeporous
In a sentence
The sign still says Grand Emporium, though it has sold nothing but phone cases since 2011.