grocery

English

a grocery

Etymology

From French grosserie (“wholesale”).[1] Compare gross.

Pronunciation

Noun

grocery (plural groceries)

  1. (usually groceries) retail foodstuffs and other household supplies.
    • 1776: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
      Where ten thousand pounds can be employed in the grocery trade, the wages of the grocer's labour make but a very trifling addition...
    • 1850, Thomas Carlyle, Latter-Day Pamphlets, The present time
      Did not cotton spin itself, beef grow, and groceries and spiceries come in from the East and the West, quite comfortably by the side of shams?
  2. A shop or store that sells groceries; a grocery store.
    • 1854: Henry David Thoreau, Walden
      I observed that the vitals of the village were the grocery, the bar-room, the post-office, and the bank...

Usage notes

When referring to goods, the singular form is primarily used attributively, as in a grocery bill, a grocery list, etc. The plural form, groceries, is much more frequently used to refer to actual goods, especially in the US.

Synonyms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ grocery in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
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