Skip to content

"shop, store" in seven languages

Meaningshop, store

Spanish

tienda

/ˈtjenda/

fem.other source · Latin *TENDA 'tent, awning', from TENDERE 'to stretch'

Almacén, a store or warehouse, is the same Arabic word as French magasin.

French

magasin

/magazɛ̃/

masc.other source · Italian magazzino 'warehouse', from Arabic maḫāzin 'storehouses'

Italian

negozio

/neˈgɔttsjo/

masc.learned

Portuguese

loja

/ˈlɔʒɐ/

fem.other source · French loge 'hut, lodge' (Frankish *laubja)

Romanian

magazin

/magaˈzin/

neut.other source · French magasin (from Arabic maḫāzin 'storehouses')

plural: magazine

A trap: Romanian magazin is a shop, not a magazine (revistă).

Catalan

botiga

/buˈtigə/

fem.other source · Latin APOTHĒCAM 'storehouse' (from Greek apothḗkē)

English

shop

/ʃɑp/

native English · Old English sceoppa 'booth' (reinforced by Old French eschoppe, itself Germanic)

English → Italianshop, storenegozioNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: negotiate; magazine (MAḪĀZIN, via French); tent (TENDA).What English and Italian share

Watch out: false friends

  • tenda (Italian) means “curtain; tent” · tienda (Spanish) means “shop; tent”

    Both from spoken Latin *TENDITA 'something stretched out'. Spanish market stalls turned the tent into a shop; Italian stretched it across a window.

  • magazzino (Italian) means “warehouse” · magasin (French) means “shop”

    Both from Arabic makhāzin 'storehouses', which entered Romance through Italian; French magasin moved from 'storehouse' to 'shop'. Spanish almacén took the Arabic directly, article and all.

  • negocio (Spanish) means “business, deal” · negozio (Italian) means “shop”

    Both from Latin NEGŌTIUM 'business' (literally 'not-leisure'). Italian narrowed it to the place where business is done.

  • magazine (English) means “periodical; ammunition store” · magazin (Romanian) means “shop, store”

    Both go back to Arabic makhāzin 'storehouses', through Italian magazzino and French magasin. Romanian took the French 'shop'; English kept 'storehouse' (still in a gun's magazine) and made a 'storehouse of information' of it, the periodical.

All false friends

The Latin ancestor

NEGŌTIUM‘business (lit. 'non-leisure')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

A shop is a market stall's awning in Spanish, an Arabic warehouse in French, and 'business' in Italian. English magazine started as a storehouse too — of articles.

English relatives: negotiate; magazine (MAḪĀZIN, via French); tent (TENDA)

Learn it

Practice the Town & city deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esLas tiendas cierran a las ocho.
  • frLes magasins ferment à huit heures.
  • itI negozi chiudono alle otto.
  • ptAs lojas fecham às oito.
  • roMagazinele se închid la opt.
  • caLes botigues tanquen a les vuit.
  • enThe shops close at eight.

More words from the same Latin

More in Town & city

All Town & city words