emporium
Americannoun
plural
emporiums, emporia-
a large retail store, especially one selling a great variety of articles.
- Synonyms:
- bazaar, marketplace, market
-
a place, town, or city of important commerce, especially a principal center of trade.
New York is one of the world's great emporiums.
noun
Etymology
Origin of emporium
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin, from Greek empórion “market, emporium,” equivalent to émporos “merchant,” originally “traveler, passenger” ( em- em- 2 + póros “passage, voyage”) + -ion noun suffix of place
Explanation
An emporium is a large store that sells a variety of merchandise. You can call a department store, with its many different departments, an emporium. Any retail store that separates its goods into different areas — like "men's hats" and "kids' shoes" and "household goods" — can be called an emporium. Almost every small city in the United States used to have at least one emporium on its main street, although today you might refer to a big box store or a shopping mall as an emporium. Emporium is a Latin word, rooted in the Greek emporion, "trading place or market," from emporos, "merchant or traveler."
Vocabulary lists containing emporium
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“For whatever is grown and made among each people cannot fail to be here at all times and in abundance,” he wrote, “so that the city appears a kind of common emporium of the world.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 29, 2025
Have you ever wanted to put a little action on a game of skee-ball at an iconic arcade emporium with locations all over the country?
From Slate • May 1, 2024
But Dinello had gotten a copy of an educational film called “The Trip Back” from Kim’s Video, the legendary East Village emporium known for its collection of obscure titles.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2024
Pembrokeshire County Council wants to open a food emporium, a restaurant, bar and roof-top terrace at the Ocky White development in Haverfordwest.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2023
My half-sleeve collared shirt came from a thrift emporium at the border between Lake and Winter.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
