shopping centreshopping centern.
/ˈʃɒpɪŋ ˌsɛntə/, U.S. /ˈʃɑpɪŋ ˌsɛn(t)ər/ 1. A group of stores within a single complex, usually connected by pedestrian walkways. Also (in early use): a department store. Cf. shopping mall n. at shopping n.2 Compounds 2.
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society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > shopping centre, precinct, etc.
parade1697
arcade1731
galleria1861
shopping centre1861
shopping precinct1947
shopping mall1950
mall1959
retail park1973
1861 North Amer. & U.S. Gaz. (Philadelphia) 23 Nov. His Stove Ware-rooms, No. 1116 Market street, above Eleventh, are the chief shopping centre in this line, in Philadelphia.
1884 Sunday Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 28 Dec. 10/1 A great shopping center, such as Macy's.
1898 E. Howard To-morrow vii. 75 The Arcade is..designed to be..the great shopping centre of the town.
1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 136 In Welwyn Garden City to-day there is a single ‘shopping centre’ associated with one bazaar.
1971 P. Gresswell Environment 183 Very few shopping centres are imaginatively designed.
1977 B. Garfield Recoil v. 62 Caruso..drove him..to a shopping center in Santa Monica.
2010 Independent 16 Aug. 12/2 The shopping centre..houses high-end stores such as Gucci, Hermès and Cartier.
2. A place where many shops are located; (with the) the main shopping area (of a town, etc.).
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1867 H. Morford Paris in '67 267 With the grouped churches in the immediate neighborhood and the ‘shopping’ centre of the town in corresponding proximity.
1933 L. E. Neal Retailing & Public v. 25 There is consequently great competition between multiple branch organisations..to acquire the best positions in the popular shopping centres.
1951 Amer. City Sept. 104/1 The builders of Lakewood Park..envisioned the building of a community, including parks, play grounds, schools, churches, and a major shopping center.
1966 H. Davies New London Spy (1967) 104 The necessary vitality and unabashed dress-consciousness to make London the shopping centre..of the youthful gods of today.
2000 Building Design 18 Feb. 23/1 The distinction between city, suburb and shopping centre is becoming blurred.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1861