Did You Know the Word “Stationery” Comes From Stationary Shops?

The word “stationery” dates back to 1727 and is actually a shortened form of “stationery wares”, meaning goods sold by a stationer. But it goes even deeper.

The term stationer comes from the Medieval Latin stationarius, meaning a seller of books and paper. This referred to merchants who stayed in a fixed spot (or station) often near universities, unlike other medieval traders who roamed from town to town as pedlars.

In short, stationery was originally about the stationary (non-moving) nature of the seller!

Today, stationery includes everything from envelopes, notepads, pens, pencils, erasers, paper clips, staples, to other paper and office supplies. The word is also used more narrowly to describe personalised or decorative paper used for correspondence, often paired with matching envelopes.
Fun Fact: The confusion between stationary (not moving) and stationery (paper goods) is one of the most common spelling mix-ups in English!