ə̇mˈpōrēəm, em-, -ȯr- noun
( plural emporiums -ēəmz ; also empo·ria -ēə)
Etymology: Latin, from Greek emporion, from emporos traveler, trader, from em- en- (II) + -poros (from poros path, road, journey — more at fare )
1.
a. : a place of trade : marketplace , mart ; especially : a commercial center
the emporium of the innumerable kinds of merchandise which are exchanged between China, Central Asia, and Europe — W.H.G.Kingston
it has been primarily an industrial city rather than a commercial emporium — Lewis Mumford
b. : an especially sizable place of business or center of activity that serves customers
earning his living at the local furniture emporium — William McFee
he has built and equipped two eating emporiums with a combined capacity of more than 200 food consumers at a sitting — Fred Hawthorne
a hardware emporium
c. : a store, shop, or similar enterprise making claim to fanciness or special commercial significance
drinking and gambling emporium — American Guide Series: Oregon
found his once sedate carriage shop transformed into a sort of Hollywood hot-rod emporium — Hugh Humphrey
the dresses in the windows of the dry-goods emporium — Hamilton Basso
one of the shiny movie emporiums — P.E.Deutschman
a Chinese chop-suey emporium — Bennett Cerf
2. : a store carrying a great diversity of merchandise
that general emporium which catered to a variety of human needs — Della Lutes
an air-conditioned news, candy, and soda-fountain emporium — J.P.Marquand