Homeware

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Domestic items for the home, such as cookware, crockery, cutlery and linens, sold as a category of goods
2. Everyday articles used in a house, including pots, dishes, kitchen utensils and soft furnishings, often sold together in shops
3. Goods for furnishing and equipping a household, ranging from kitchen tools and tableware to towels and bedding

Etymology: "Homeware" is a plain compound: "home" joined to "-ware," the English suffix meaning goods or articles of a particular kind, as in "silverware" or "glassware." Both parts are old native English words. "Home" descends from Old English "hām," a word for a dwelling or the place where one lives, and "ware" comes from Old English "waru," meaning goods, merchandise, or things for sale. The pairing describes household items such as cookware, kitchenware, and small furnishings. The second half has a longer history than its modern use suggests. In Old English, "waru" was a general word for articles or commodities, and it survived into Middle English as "ware," which meant anything offered for sale. Once English speakers began attaching it to materials and purposes, it became a productive suffix for grouping goods by category, which is why "homeware" could be coined from the familiar pattern without any special borrowing.

Synonyms: housewares, household goods