Grocery

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/

Definitions

1. A commercial space that stocks a variety of foodstuffs and household necessities for consumer purchase
2. An establishment offering an assortment of food items and essential goods for daily living
3. A retail outlet where customers can buy food products and common household supplies

Etymology: The surprising thing about "grocery" is that it began as a word for goods sold in bulk rather than for a shop at all. It comes from Middle English "grocerye", formed from "grocer" and the suffix "-y", and its root sense is tied to the Latin "grossus", meaning thick or large, which is also the source of "gross" in the sense of a wholesale quantity. A grocer was originally a dealer who sold by the gross, that is, in large lots, rather than in small retail portions. Over time the meaning narrowed and widened in turn. The trade of the grocer came to mean the commodities he handled, which is the sense that survives in "groceries" as a plural for purchased food. The modern sense of a store stocking household necessities developed from that commodity sense, so the word moved from a person's trade, to the goods, to the place where they are bought.

Synonyms: market, store, shop