[em-pawr-ee-uh, -pohr-] /ɛmˈpɔr i ə, -ˈpoʊr-/ (Show IPA)
1.
a large retail store, especially one selling a great variety of articles.
2.
a place, town, or city of important commerce, especially a principal center of trade:
New York is one of the world's great emporiums.
Origin
1580-90; < Latin < Greekempórion market, emporium, equivalent to émporos merchant, orig. traveler, passenger (em-em-2 + póros passage, voyage; compare en pórōi on a voyage, en route) + -ion noun suffix of place
Synonyms
1. market, marketplace, bazaar.
Examples from the web for emporium
Carefully hoarded pocket money vanishes in a flash inside that emporium of rhinestone earrings, sequined slippers and beaded bags.
Ashkelon's tradition as a melting pot and emporium persists.
She has watched the old-style drug store evolve into an emporium devoted to the sale of notions.
Alas, he is sidetracked at a gambling emporium, where he loses all his money.
The emporium was new, built in the soon-dashed hopes of millennium traffic.
The financial marketplace, meanwhile, has become a dizzying emporium of choice and easy credit.
Next time you have some errands to run at a suburban shopping emporium, you may find it difficult to get the kids out of there.
British Dictionary definitions for emporium
emporium
/ɛmˈpɔːrɪəm/
noun (pl) -riums, -ria (-rɪə)
1.
a large and often ostentatious retail shop offering for sale a wide variety of merchandise
Word Origin
C16: from Latin, from Greek emporion, from emporos merchant, from poros a journey
Word Origin and History for emporium
n.
1580s, from Latin emporium, from Greek emporion "trading place, market," from emporos "merchant, traveler," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + poros "passage, voyage," related to peirein "to pass through" (see port (n.1)).