Spanish: Tienda De Abarrotes / Abarrotes

Type: Vocabulary

Meaning: shop, neighborhood store

Una palabra de origen gallego que se importó a México durante la colonia, un abarrote era primero lo que llamaban a un bulto que se traía en barco, y luego la mercancía misma. Por eso, el término “tienda de abarrotes” es una tienda donde vendían esa mercancía. Ahora le dicen muchas veces simplemente “el abarrotes.” Usualmente se refiere a una tiendita de vecindario. (A word of Galician origin brought to Mexico during colonial days, an “abarrote” was first a container brought on a ship and later, the merchandise within the container. So, the term “tienda de abarrotes” referred to a place where that merchandise was sold. Today the term is often shortened to just “abarrotes,” and most often refers to a small neighborhood store.)