bodega
noun
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Apothecaries, Bodegas, and Boutiques
Apothecary, bodega, and boutique may not look very similar, but they are all related both in meaning and in origin. Each of these words can be traced back to a Latin word for “storehouse” (apotheca), and each one refers in English to a retail establishment of some sort. Although bodega initially meant “a storehouse for wine,” it now most commonly refers to a grocery store in an urban area, especially one that specializes in Hispanic groceries. Boutique has also taken on new meanings: its first sense in English (“a small retail store”) is still current, but it now may also denote “a small company that offers highly specialized products or services.” Of the three words, apothecary has changed the least; it has gone from referring solely to the person who sells drugs or medicines to also naming the store where such goods are sold.
Example Sentences
Fox News, 8 Aug. 2022 Detectives believe the shootings of the dog walker and the mother and daughter at the bodega are linked, but no suspects had been identified as of Monday morning, according to police. Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 18 July 2022 Prosecutors in New York City moved to dismiss the murder charge against Jose Alba, a bodega worker who fatally stabbed a man for attacking him earlier this month at a store in Harlem. Talal Ansari, WSJ, 19 July 2022 Alba then stabbed Simon at least five times, fatally, at which point the girlfriend attacked and stabbed the bodega worker. The Editors, National Review, 12 July 2022 Tours offer a front-row seat to the rum-making process, from the extraction of juice to the aging of rums in a bodega. Laura Kiniry, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 July 2022 For rapid delivery, that means finding people who regularly need things like BandAids or a banana delivered urgently—and are willing to pay a premium for it—rather than walking to the bodega to get it themselves. Wired, 16 July 2022 And subscription snack boxes keep my munchies at bay without my having to forage for the most obscene flavor of Combos at my local bodega or raid the BA test kitchen for pecan nubs left over from muffin recipe testing. Bon Appétit, 19 Apr. 2022 For more than three months, the group has gathered each morning on a corner in the Bronx, at a makeshift shrine to Mr. Lewis, 21, a local kid with a big smile who was shot and killed at a nearby bodega in August. New York Times, 26 Nov. 2021 See More Word History
Spanish, from Latin apotheca storehouse — more at apothecary
1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1