boutique

Etymology

It is borrowed from French boutique (“small shop”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} recorded in French from the 14th century;^[2][4] Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories says that it has meant a retail shop in French since the 13th century.^[7] The French word is probably from Old Occitan botica, also botiga,^{[8][9][10][11]} from Latin apothēca (“storehouse”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “storehouse”).^{[2][4][5][11]} Klein explains the i in place of e by the Medieval Greek pronunciation of η as i,^[11][10] and Etymonline notes that the Latin word passing directly into French would have taken a quite different form.^[4] The same Greek word is the source of apothecary, and through Spanish and Italian of bodega and bottega.^[11][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small shop of any kind: 1767.^[2][3][8][4] Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories notes that from the late 18th century the word appeared in travel writing for small shops in various parts of the world.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word became established in English in the 1950s through the fashion trade: the great Paris couturiers opened small speciality shops selling accessories and other fashion items on the street floors of their buildings, and the idea spread to New York and London, sometimes as separate departments in large stores.^[7] Etymonline dates the sense "trendy fashion shop" to 1950,^[4] the OED to 1953, in the New York Times.^[2] In American English it was extended to other small specialized businesses, such as advertising agencies, investment firms and wineries;^[7] the OED records the attributive use for exclusive or specialized products from 1964, for such businesses from 1968, and the noun for a small specialized business from 1984.^[2] Collins also records a specialized counter within a supermarket.^[9]

Timeline

• 1767 – a small shop.^[2][3][8]
• 1950 – a trendy fashion shop.^[4]
• 1953 – a small fashion shop or department selling designer clothes.^[2]
• 1964 – attributive, of goods like those sold in boutiques.^[2]
• 1968 – attributive, of a small specialized business.^[2]
• 1984 – noun, a small specialized business.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small shop selling fashionable clothes or accessories, or such a department within a larger store.^[9][8][2]
2. A small business offering a highly specialized product or service: a design boutique.^[8][2][9]
3. A small specialized counter within a supermarket, especially for fresh meat or fish.^[9]
4. A small shop of any kind.^[2][6]

Adjective

1. Of a small, exclusive or specialized business or product: a boutique brewery.^[9][2][8]

Word family

• boutiquey

Related words

• apothecary
• bodega
• bottega

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.