Gamestop

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A retail company specializing in the sale of video games, gaming consoles, and related accessories
2. A commercial store brand focused on offering electronic entertainment products including games and hardware for gaming systems
3. A business entity that serves as a marketplace for buying and selling new and pre-owned video games and gaming equipment

Etymology: GameStop is a compound of "game" and "stop," and its name is best understood as a plain descriptive coinage rather than a classical or folk-etymological construction. The chain was founded in 1984 in Dallas, Texas, under the name Babbage's, which had grown out of a computer-software retailer. It was renamed Electronics Boutique in 1994 and took its current name in 2000, when the company merged with Funco Land, a Minneapolis-based video game chain, and the combined business adopted the GameStop name. The "stop" element reflects the retail meaning of a stopping place for shoppers, a sense the English word has carried since the Old English "stoppian," meaning to block or halt, and the "game" element points to the store's focus on video games. The name was chosen to advertise exactly what the company sold, so its origin is a straightforward brand-name formation, with no older use of the word behind it.