bodega

noun bo·de·ga \ bō-ˈdā-gə \

Updated on: 10 May 2018

Definition of bodega

1 : a storehouse for maturing wine

2 a : wineshop

b (1) : ¹bar 5a

(2) : barroom

3 : a usually small grocery store in an urban area; specifically : one specializing in Hispanic groceries

Recent Examples of bodega from the Web

And just like that, Tiffany & Co. became even cooler — though the bodega takeovers and Tiffany Blue cabs didn’t hurt either.

— refinery29.com, "Breakfast At Tiffany's," 4 May 2018
Just a few blocks away, on 57th Street, a bodega was decked out in paper flowers, with Tiffany blue trash cans, ladders, and traffic cones.

— candace braun davison, House Beautiful, "Tiffany's Painted New York City Its Iconic Blue — And It's Turning Into A Wild Scavenger Hunt," 3 May 2018
Casual fine-dining ethnic restaurants, above a bodega but accessible to everyone, where the staff is treated well and make a living wage.

— kara baskin, BostonGlobe.com, "Getting Salty with Jason Tom of Night Market," 23 Apr. 2018
What do the Yale Club, Pret a Manger and your corner bodega have in common?

— WSJ, "It’s Likely Your Coffee Was Roasted at This New York Company," 17 Apr. 2018
Then, one sunny afternoon in 2001, as Johnny parked his Nissan sedan outside a nearby bodega, he was killed in a spray of bullets.

— monica campbell, Marie Claire, "Mexico's Female Drug Lords," 21 July 2011
Set in New York’s Washington Heights, the story concerns Usnavi de la Vega, a bodega owner.

— john timpane, Philly.com, "Lin-Manuel Miranda and Philly writer get their movie rights back from Weinstein for 'In the Heights'," 9 Apr. 2018
Co-founder Jay Gordon said that hiding Bodega behind a bodega was an effort to put the fun and discovery back in retail.

— kavita daswani, latimes.com, "Boston-based sneaker boutique Bodega brings its hide-and-seek retail to downtown L.A.," 6 Apr. 2018
While working as a janitor, he was called in to make sandwiches at a bodega in Puerto Rico .

— david sharos, Naperville Sun, "Chef's Choice: Putting heart into food," 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bodega.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.