Newsagent

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A retail establishment that specializes in selling newspapers, magazines, and various periodicals
2. A shop where customers can purchase printed materials such as tabloids and literature along with stationary items
3. An outlet focused on distributing information and entertainment through printed media, often serving as a local community resource

Etymology: "Newsagent" is a plain compound: "news" plus "agent," with the sense of a person or business that acts on someone else's behalf. Here the "agent" is the trader who acts as go-between for the newspapers, arranging supply and sales to readers. The meaning is therefore literal: a shop whose job is to deal in news, which in practice means papers and periodicals. The word is most at home in British English, where it is the usual name for the small corner shop that sells papers, magazines, sweets and often tobacco. Because "agent" in the trade sense was already common, the compound needed no special coinage, and its transparent construction is the reason its meaning has stayed so stable.

Synonyms: newsdealer, newsvendor, newsstand operator