bodega

[ boh-dey-guh; Spanish baw-the-gah ]

noun

, plural bo·de·gas [boh-, dey, -g, uh, z, baw-, the, -gahs].

1. a small, independent or family-owned grocery store, usually located in a densely populated urban environment, traditionally serving a Hispanic clientele.
2. (in Spain)
   1. a wineshop.
   2. a warehouse for storing or aging wines.

bodega

/ boˈðeɣa; bəʊˈdiːɡə /

noun

1. a shop selling wine and sometimes groceries, esp in a Spanish-speaking country

Word History and Origins

Origin of bodega¹

First recorded in 1845–50 bodega fordef 2; 1965–70 bodega fordef 1; from Latin American Spanish, Spanish “wine cellar, wine shop,” from Latin apothēca “storehouse”; apothecary

Word History and Origins

Origin of bodega¹

C19: from Spanish, ultimately from Greek apothēkē storehouse, from apotithenai to store, put away

Example Sentences

One observer in New York tweeted how young people in her neighborhood were at a bodega “trying to negotiate buying crates” so they could do the challenge on concrete.

From Washington Post

Sonny is Usnavi’s 16-year-old cousin and sidekick who helps him out at the bodega, and onstage, he has a couple of solos about the disenfranchisement of Washington Heights.

From Vox

His dream is to close up the bodega and move back to the DR, where he’ll reopen the long-dormant beachside refreshment joint his father used to run.

From Time

There was a store owner named Leo who ran the bodega around the corner from where I grew up.

From Washington Post

He also channels the threads of guilt Steve feels for his unintentional role in the crime for which he’s on trial, one that left a bodega owner dead.

From Time

Casa Bruja's Fula Farmacia Blond Ale sells for $1.95 at Bodega Mi Amiga.

From The Daily Beast

"Right now beer is a trend," Bernardo Rivas, the owner of Bodega Mi Amiga tells me in the imported beer aisle.

From The Daily Beast

Bodega Mi Amiga is the largest liquor store in the country—and the oldest, dating back to 1959.

From The Daily Beast

One of the stores Pragnell is referring to is Bodega Mi Amiga, a veritable institution on Via Porras in downtown Panama City.

From The Daily Beast

Bodega Mi Amiga sells every kind of liquor you can imagine, or that is legally allowed to be imported into Panama.

From The Daily Beast

Twenty minutes later, after much backing and swearing and heaving of lines the Bodega's hawser was finally put board the Maggie.

From Project Gutenberg

Down the bay they raced, the Bodega leading slightly, both tugs whistling at half-minute intervals.

From Project Gutenberg

The Bodega has more speed than the Aphrodite, so poke ahead there and let's try to get in an hour's sleep before daylight.

From Project Gutenberg

Me, I don't feel like drownin' in that engine room or gettin' cut in half by the bow o' the Bodega or the Aphrodite.

From Project Gutenberg

They live toward the north coast in the vicinity of the Port of Bodega.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• convenience store
• supermarket