The word grocery, used today to refer to the goods sold at a grocery store or supermarket, comes from the word grocer. While the word can mean anything sold at such a store, it usually refers to food items and other small items. Although today we think of a grocer as someone who owns and operates a retail grocery store for the public, the word originally referred to a wholesaler. This merchant would buy large quantities of such foods as could be stored for longer periods, like spices, dried fruits, tea, and coffee. And perhaps tallow and other commodities. The first known use of the word grocery was during the 15th century, when it described the goods sold by a grocer. By the 1700s, the word had naturally been extended to refer to the place where such goods are sold.
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Grocery Etymology
Originally, the merchant who bought and then resold these spices and other items retail to the public was called a spicer. But also, a wholesaler was sometimes called a spicer en gross. A gross meant a large amount of some product. Spicer en gross was sometimes shortened to grosser, and from there, we get our modern grocer, although we derive the term by way of French. We rarely use this term today, but the word grocery is directly related, used to describe not only the stores where the goods are sold, but the products themselves.
The word came to America from England and was used at least as far back as the early 1300s. Before this time, such words as pepperer and spicer were in use, and there was even a Guild of Pepperers in England. The Guild of Grocers, in the late 14th century, became very important.
As above, the word is related to the word gross. Gross comes from the late Latin grossus, meaning large or bulky. From there came the Medieval Latin grossarius, someone who sold things in large amounts. Grossarius became grossier in French, and later, probably with the Norman invasion, it came to England to become grosserie(Anglo-French) and then grocer.
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The Meaning of “Gross”
Today, the word gross specifically refers to a quantity of 144 of some item. In French, this amount was a grosse douzaine. In English, this is shortened to just gross.
The specific meaning of the word gross had nothing to do with the word grocer, as this word did not come to us directly out of the word gross, but from the French word for grocer, which would refer simply to someone who bought and sold in bulk.
The Medieval Wholesale Trade
When the word first came into use, there were not many stores similar to what we would call a grocery store. Bulk items were usually sold to individual merchants in markets in the cities and at fairs in the villages, or sold directly to the more wealthy and privileged.
The origin of the word grocer, as explained here, describes a merchant who bought food items in bulk, which could be called ‘in gross’ or en gros. However, the verb form, also from French, is engrosser, which means to absorb or occupy a large part of something, or, in the economic sense, to buy up all or most of a commodity.
We often use this word today, as when we say we are engrossed in a book, but in the original sense of the word, it is the book that is engrossing us!
So, a grocer was one who engrossed commodities, but there is a negative sense to this word because to buy up large quantities of precious commodities, to control the market and be able to sell at a very high price, was a practice that was quite frowned upon, and still is today. It was, in fact, outlawed in England very early on.
Therefore, to be an engrosser (engrossier) was not a very good thing. To suppose that the term grocer stems directly from engrossier seems to be common in the literature, but need not be the case at all, and makes no more sense than our modern use of gross for something disgusting coming directly from the word gross used for business purposes. And, in fact, the way we use gross today has an extended meaning.
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Engrossing the Market
You see, in early modern English, engrosser carried two senses: One was someone who sought to “corner the market” by buying up and controlling all the supply, to raise the prices sky-high; and the other sense was from the French engrosser, which meant to make big, thick, large…in other words, to make gross.
From Physical Size to Modern Slang
This word was from the French gros or grosse (feminine), which meant not only large or thick, but also bulky, rough, or coarse. As it came into English, it could mean either bulky or coarse, or large and thick. Someone could have gross features, for instance, meaning his features were rough and “coarse,” or he could have a gross stomach, meaning his stomach was large and bloated.
It has since been extended to use as an adjective, carrying a negative sense as an intensifier that basically means big, as in he made a gross error. It also became an adjective meaning total, as in gross profit.
Just as something can be large and not disgusting, a merchant could have bought in bulk without being an engrosser. So, to suppose that the modern term grocer, and therefore grocery comes directly from engross may be true, but certainly not necessary.
The Rise of the American Grocery Store
The etymology of the word grocery took a natural course from describing the goods sold by a grocer to designating the place where those goods were sold. Grocery, grocery store, and grocery market are all used to refer to shops, large and small, that sell basic food items and other household supplies to the public. This use was established by the early 1800s, especially in America, while the goods themselves are called groceries, with a plural. Since then, large and small grocery stores have become a ubiquitous feature of the American landscape, found in small towns, large cities, rural areas, and everywhere in between.
From Pepperers to the Guild of Grocers
Long before, by the 1500s, the famous Grocer’s Hall in London was referred to as the “grocery.” Home to London’s powerful and influential “Worshipful Company of Grocers, it originally began hundreds of years before as The Guild of Pepperers, which regulated the purity of spices and the accuracy of weights and measures. These pepperers formed a fraternity in 1345, dedicated to St Antonin as their patron saint. By the 1370s, the guild became known as the “Grosseurs” (which became anglicized to grocers), as they had expanded their activities to include a wider range of goods sold in “gross.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the word “grocery” originally mean?
Originally, the word did not refer to a store but to the goods sold by a grocer. In the 15th century, a grocer was a wholesaler who bought and sold goods “in gross” (in large quantities), such as spices, dried fruits, tea, and coffee. It wasn’t until the 1700s that the term began to refer to the physical shop itself.
Where does the word “grocer” come from?
The term is derived from the Middle English word grosser, which came from the Old French grossier. These terms trace back to the Late Latin word grossus, meaning “large” or “bulky,” referring to merchants who dealt with large volumes of goods rather than small retail amounts.
What is the connection between a “spicer” and a “grocer”?
Before the term “grocer” became common, these merchants were known as spicers or pepperers. In medieval London, the Guild of Pepperers eventually evolved into the Worshipful Company of Grocers as they expanded their trade beyond spices to include a wider variety of bulk commodities.
Why is a “gross” defined as 144 items?
The term “gross” meaning a quantity of 144 comes from the French phrase grosse douzaine, which translates to a “large dozen” (a dozen dozens). While the word “grocer” comes from the same root of buying in bulk, the specific number 144 is a distinct mathematical application of the word.
Did the word “engrossed” come from the same origin as gross and grocer?
Yes. The verb engross comes from the French engrosser, meaning to buy up all or most of a commodity to control the market. While we now use “engrossed” to mean being deeply absorbed in something—like a book—its original economic sense was often viewed negatively because it involved “cornering the market” to raise prices.
References
1. Ward, Artemas. The Grocer’s Encyclopedia. N.p.: Cornell University Library, 1911 (2009).
2. Morton, Mark. Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities. Toronto: Insomniac, 2004.
3. Rapalje, Stewart, and Robert L. Lawrence. A Dictionary of American and English Law: With Definitions of the Technical Terms of the Canon and Civil Laws : Also, Containing a Full Collection of Latin Maxims, and Citations of Upwards of Forty Thousand Reported Cases in Which Words and Phrases Have Been Judicially Defined or Construed. Union, NJ: Lawbook Exchange, 1997
