grocern.
/ˈɡrəʊsə/, U.S. /ˈɡroʊsər/ 1. A wholesale dealer or merchant; a person who buys and sells in large quantities. historical in later use, except in the name of the livery company (see note and quot. 1989).The Worshipful Company of Grocers (also Grocers' Company, Company of Grocers of London) is one of the livery companies of the City of London and received its royal charter in 1429. Known as the Company of Pepperers (see pepperer n.1) prior to 1345, it included wholesale dealers in spices and foreign produce, and the association of the term with these wholesalers of foreign produce probably gave rise to sense 2a. See also grocery n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > merchant > [noun]
merchantc1225
grocer1427
merchantman1449
marketor1474
fleece-feeder1549
mercadore1595
marcantanta1616
man of business1640
correspondent1698
businessman1803
mercantile1813
net importer1925
commercial1962
1418–19 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 200 William Grom, Freman of london, vsyd to sel dyuerz Warez to the Fraternite of Grocerz, And aftyr retaylyd to diuerz men.
1426 in E. F. Jacob & H. C. Johnson Reg. Henry Chichele (1937) II. 340 (MED) I bequethe to the maistres and the company of grocerys at London x li.
a1500 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 63 It is ordanyd yt no groser of fysche awe to cutt hys awn fysche.
1541–2 Act 33 Henry VIII c. 25 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 865 Thomas Poyntz of London Grocer, occupyeng the feate of marchaundise in the Partes beyonde the See.
1689 W. Ravenhill Short Acct. Company Grocers 1 The word Grocers was a term at first distinguishing Merchants of this Society, in opposition to Inferiour Retailers; for that they usually sold in gross Quantities by great Weights.
1834 W. Herbert Hist. Twelve Great Livery Companies London I. 45 The grocers' first ordinances, in 1346, required that each new member ‘should be of good condicion, and of the craft’.
1989 Sunday Times (Nexis) 29 Oct. [She] is one of only four female liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Grocers.
2021 T. Mount How to Survive Medieval Eng. (e-book ed.) ‘Grocers’..describes how they run their businesses: buying stuff en gros or in bulk.
2.
a. A person who sells foods and other household supplies to the public.Originally grocers primarily traded in spices and preserved foods. In the 18th and 19th centuries tea, coffee, and cocoa became characteristic articles of the grocer's trade.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in food and drink
grocer1465
provision-dealer1800
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of provisions
victualler1377
grocer1465
chandler1583
viander1598
sutler1710
provision man1859
1465 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 299 He paid to the grocer in Fanchestrete for spyceȝ, x.s. vj.d.
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Aiiiv What shuld an yremonger, mell with grocers ware.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. lxx. 635 A man shal..find it to be sold in the shops of the Apothecaries and Grossers.
1604 Penniles Parl. Threed-bare Poets in Iacke of Dover Quest of Inquirie sig. F4 The Grocers are plentifully blessed, for their Figges and Reasons may allure faire Lasses.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. vi. 169 A Grocer is a Man who buys and sells Sugar and Plums and Spices for Gain.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxi. 626 The grocer weighed out his currants.
1954 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 9 Aug. 6/1 A grocer or other shopowner can benefit if he buys a new display counter.
2003 N. Slater Toast 144 The grocer cut thin slices of ham from the bone.
b. Originally and chiefly in the genitive. A shop that sells foods and other household supplies; a grocery store (chiefly British). Later also: a business selling groceries, such as a large retail operation, a chain, etc.The genitive use referring to the store is elliptical for grocer's shop n.
ΚΠ
1749 Ladies Advocate 151 I went this Morning to the Grocer's, for the Things you desired me to take care of.
1848 Holden's Dollar Mag. Oct. 638/1 John Cantwell, shopman at a grocer's, 35 years of age.
1919 Hearings before Special Comm. conc. Victor L. Berger (U.S. House of Representatives) II. 162 I am going to give you some Chicago prices that we pay when we go to the grocer and the markets and buy the necessities of life.
1995 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 13 Sept. (Final ed.) The grocer will open two new stores and remodel more than 30 existing ones, its first major expansion in recent years.
2013 D. Sachs Secret Nightingale Palace vii. 127 Her day would include a trip to the park and a stop at the grocer's for soap and onions.
Compounds
C1. British. In the genitive, designating cheap, low quality alcoholic drink, esp. wine, sold at a grocer's shop or supermarket, as in grocer's port, grocer's wine, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > class or grade of wine > [noun] > cheap or inferior wine
drum-winea1640
red ink1849
Gladstone (claret)1864
pinkie1897
dago red1906
pinard1917
ink1918
plonk1927
grocer's Graves1931
grocer's wine1931
nelly1941
Red Ned1941
vaaljapie1945
purple death1947
grocer's sherry1958
papsak2004
1843 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 650/1 We are ready to idealize British Brandy, or Grocer's Port to any extent—so we be not asked to drink them.
1888 Boys Leisure Hour 1 Sept. 312/3 Had the cheap grocer's rum imbibed by him a[nd] his bosom friend turned their heads?
1931 W. Holtby Poor Caroline i. 21 The cultivation of a palate cannot be achieved on grocer's port.
1960 J. Morris Hired to Kill iii. xvi. 141 To that it bears about as much resemblance as does a bottle of the finest vintage claret to grocer's wine.
1994 Independent (Nexis) 10 Apr. 44 We find Hester offering her husband—a man who drinks nothing but the best—a glass of over-oxygenated grocer's wine.
C2.
grocer's itch n. (also †grocers itch, grocers' itch) now rare an itchy skin eruption occurring on the hands and arms of grocers or other persons who handle stored food products, usually attributed to irritation from or allergy to acarid mites infesting such products.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > environmental disorders > [noun] > occupational
industrial disease1854
occupation disease1900
occupational disease1901
1752 Ess. Sugar 8 It is also observ'd, that Grocers have..sometimes scabby Hands, by some call'd, The Grocers Itch, caus'd, as said, by the handling of Sugar.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 623 The Local Form [of scall] is chiefly produced by the use of irritant materials, constantly applied to the parts affected..as sugar among the labourers in grocery warehouses, and lime among bricklayers. Whence this variety has been vulgarly called Grocer's Itch, or Bricklayer's Itch.
1928 Daily Tel. 29 Aug. 7/2 Whereas the sugar mites (Acarus sacchari), the cause of a troublesome skin disease known as ‘grocer's itch’, and other organisms may often be found.., they are never found nor could they live in pure refined sugar or in Lyle's Golden Syrup.
2006 J. Stranks A-Z Health & Safety 108 Grain itch, barley itch, grocer's itch and copra itch are varieties of dermatitis caused by mites.
grocer's paper n. paper used to wrap groceries; = grocery paper n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > wrapping-papers
cap-paper1577
packing paper1590
cap1620
German Lombard1712
wrapping-paper1715
butter paper1727
whitey-brown1761
kitchen paper?1782
emporetic1790
tea-paper1814
needle paper1852
small hand1853
grocer's paper1861
tobacco paper1877
grocery-paper1883
greaseproof paper1894
chip paper1935
toffee paper1958
1704 D. Defoe Rev. Affairs France 12 Sept. (1705) 235/1 A single sheet of Grocer's Paper.
1861 D. G. Rossetti Let. Jan. (1965) II. 392 I shall have it printed..on blue grocer's-paper.
1925 E. Sitwell et al. Poor Young People 59 Tied in a packet of blue grocer's paper.
2015 A. H. Pérez Out of Darkness 165 The thick rectangle was covered in grocer's paper and tied with string.
grocer's shop n. British a shop that sells foods and other household supplies; a grocery store.
ΚΠ
1592 R. Greene Blacke Bookes Messenger sig. B3v Come to my house here hard by at a Grocers shop.
1662 J. Greenhalgh Let. 22 Apr. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. 13 In the wall..many draw boxes, with rings at them like those in a Grocer's Shop.
1881 Chequered Career 279 This young man serves behind a counter in a grocer's shop.
1998 M. Hulse tr. W. G. Sebald Rings of Saturn vii. 175 I had been standing for a while in the little grocer's shop, which was piled to the ceiling with tinned foods.
Derivatives
ˈgrocerdom n. rare the realm or world of grocers; (also) grocers collectively.
ΚΠ
1828 T. Carlyle Burns in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 301 Do battle against the intrusions of Grocerdom.
1865 Western Times (Exeter) 9 May 2/5 The notice that the reduction in the tea duty announced in the Chancellor's Budget would take effect from the passing of the resolutions..created quite a panic in all grocerdom.
1955 M. Kennedy Oracles (2011) (e-book ed.) All grocerdom will shriek at this.
ˈgrocerly adj. rare of or relating to groceries or the grocery trade.
ΚΠ
1765 Scots Mag. Dec. 641/1 The grocerly argument of tea and sugar.
1841 T. Hood Tale of Trumpet iii, in New Monthly Mag. Sept. 160 For some grocerly thieves Turn over new leaves Without much amending their lives or their tea.
2012 R. Richardson Dickens & Workhouse iv. 104 We do find Dickens occasionally employing grocerly imagery, which catches the attention.
ΚΠ
1897 I. Zangwill From Mattress Grave in Cosmopolis Dec. 641 Biographers will weigh me grocer-wise as Kant weighed the Deity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2022; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
<
n.1418