Bookstall

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small stall or stand, often outdoors or at a fair, where books are displayed and sold to passersby
2. A portable or fixed counter set up to offer books for sale, commonly found at markets, fairs or station platforms
3. A table or booth where printed books are arranged for customers to browse and purchase

Etymology: A bookstall is about as transparent as English compounds get: "book" plus "stall," with the second word carrying its older sense of a fixed place for selling goods. The "stall" half comes from Old English "steall," meaning a standing place or stable, which later came to mean a booth or table from which goods were sold in markets and along streets. Put the two together and you get a small stand where books are displayed and sold, whether an outdoor table in a market or a compact kiosk in a station or arcade. The word thus describes a merchant's pitch built around books rather than anything more specialised, and it has kept that plain, practical sense ever since.

Synonyms: bookstand, bookshop, newsstand