约公元1300年，“家庭、营地等的供应或食品”来自store（动词），或来自古法语estore“食品；舰队，海军，军队”，源自estorer或中世纪拉丁语staurum、instaurum“储存”。“足够供应”的一般意义自15世纪晚期起被证实。1721年在美式英语中记录了“商品存放出售的地方”的意义，源自“储存供应和食品的地方”（1660年代）。英式英语更倾向于使用shop（名词）。
The word store is of larger signification than the word shop. It not only comprehends all that is embraced in the word shop, when that word is used to designate a place in which goods or merchandise are sold, but more, a place of deposit, a store house. In common parlance the two words have a distinct meaning. We speak of shops as places in which mechanics pursue their trades, as a carpenter's shop a blacksmith's shop a shoemaker's shop. While, if we refer to a place where goods and merchandise are bought and sold, whether by wholesale or retail, we speak of it as a store. [C.J. Brickell, opinion in Sparrenberger v. The State of Alabama, Supreme Court of Alabama, December term, 1875]
词语store的意义比词语shop更广泛。它不仅包括当shop一词用于指代销售商品或货物的地方时所包含的一切，更是一个存放的地方，一个store house。在日常用语中，这两个词有着不同的意义。我们称shops为机械师进行其工作的地方，如carpenter's shop a blacksmith's shop a shoemaker's shop。而如果我们指的是一个商品和货物买卖的地方，无论是批发还是零售，我们称之为store。[C.J. Brickell, 在Sparrenberger v. The State of Alabama一案中的意见，阿拉巴马州最高法院，1875年12月期]
Stores“军队或军舰的物品和设备”始于1630年代。In store“为将来使用而储存”（也用于事件等）自公元1300年起被记录。
