Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small grocery store that specializes in products from the Caribbean and Latin America.
  • noun A warehouse for the storage of wine.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A wine-cellar, or a shop where wine is sold from the wood; a wine-vault.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Storehouse for maturing wine
  • noun Store specializing in Hispanic groceries
  • noun slang, New York City a convenience store

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small Hispanic shop selling wine and groceries

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish, from Latin apothēca, storehouse; see apothecary.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Spanish, from Latin apotheca ("storehouse"), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apotheke, "storehouse")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bodega.

Examples

  • I know that you can donate through banamex or at the electra stores all over mexico, but I am not sure that the money would get there (after Mitch the donations were still in bodega a year after in DF) If you can advise me here on this forum or through my e mail address, I would appreciate it.

    help with Merida - living/retiring 1919

  • At the Last Crack Hipster’s corner bodega, the code word is “Casaban.”

    The Last Crack Hipster 2009

  • At the Last Crack Hipster’s corner bodega, the code word is “Casaban.”

    The Last Crack Hipster 2009

  • At the Last Crack Hipster’s corner bodega, the code word is “Casaban.”

    The Last Crack Hipster 2009

  • On a brick wall next to a bodega was a mural of a young brown-skinned man with a black, seagull-shaped mustache.

    The Big Scam Paul Lindsay 2005

  • She has seen many clients start from nothing and build prosperous lives for their families through small businesses, including one client who started with a small "bodega" and now owns one of the largest grocery stores in Brooklyn.

    Fact Sheet On Eight Years Of Peace Progress And Prosperity A Clinton, Bill, 1946- 2001

  • She has seen many clients start from nothing and build prosperous lives for their families through small businesses, including one client who started with a small "bodega" and now owns one of the largest grocery stores in Brooklyn.

    Fact Sheet On Eight Years Of Peace Progress And Prosperity Clinton, Bill, 1946- 2001

  • Now the Malaga-born star has gone one step further, by investing in a Spanish 'bodega'.

    Hellomagazine.com - Celebrity news headlines 2009

  • He then went into a bodega which is when I noticed that there were a few people watching with terrified faces.

    Party for Socialism and Liberation Stories 2008

  • Not to sound like a V-Day grinch, but I'm also going to presume that you think this day stinks more than a rotting bouquet of bodega-bought roses.

    Cocktails in the Name of Love 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The Spanish "bodega" is derived from Latin "apotheca," by dropping the initial syllable and "softening" the remaining sounds:

    bo'de'ga < -- > po'the'ca

    Thus, if you want to feel particularly genteel or old world, refer to your local bodega as the "apothecary."

    October 5, 2008

  • I rarely feel genteel, but this is cool anyway.

    October 5, 2008

  • "in Nottingham England the bodega social club is a name of hipster alternative bar. The word bodega has come to mean hipster/trendy/alternative/retro/indie."

    January 7, 2015