stationery

Definitions

Surprisingly, this also goes back to 'station.' In medieval times, most traders were travelling peddlers, but a bookseller who kept a fixed shop (a 'station') was called a stationer. The goods such a fixed shop sold — paper, pens, ink — became 'stationery.'

Why It Means This

The link from 'station' to 'paper' is one of English's odd word-history jumps: a stationer was literally 'someone with a fixed stall.' Because such shops sold writing supplies, the products took the name. Don't confuse with stationary (not moving).

Common Collocations

• 1.office stationery办公文具
• 2.stationery supplies文具用品
• 3.branded stationery品牌文具
• 4.stationery shop文具店

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She ordered new stationery printed with the company logo.

• 2.

  The drawer was full of pens, paper, and other stationery.

• 3.

  They run a small stationery shop on the high street.

Easily Confused

stationery vs stationary — stationery (e) = paper and pens; stationary (a) = not moving. Hook: stationery has an e like pens / envelope.