Entrepot

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Dr. Goodword
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Entrepot

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:32 pm

• entrepot •

Pronunciation: ahn-trê-poHear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A temporary storehouse or group of storehouses for goods. 2. A distribution center, a place where goods are shipped or otherwise brought for distribution elsewhere, generally duty-free.

Notes: Today's Good Word is so newly arrived from French, it hasn't had time to take off its hat: it is usually spelled entrepôt. We took the hat off the head word for technical reasons. Look out for the folk etymological variant, entreport. It hasn't arrived yet, but it has been spotted in older publications.

In Play: Today's Good Word usually refers to a port or ports: "Historically, England has been the entrepôt of trade between the continent and the Americas." But why stop here? "Detroit in the 60s and 70s was the entrepôt of soul music."

Word History: Today's word obviously comes from French. It is the noun for the verb entreposer "to store", a compound derivation made up of entre "among" + poser "to place". This word derived from Latin interponere, interposui "to place between/among" from Latin inter "among, between" + ponere, posui "to put, place". Ponere is believed to be the remnants of an old compound (a)po-sinere "to leave off" comprising apo- "off, away" + sinere "to leave", of obscure origins. Apo went on to become English off and of. Ponere, posui went into the making of many Latin words borrowed by English, including position, pose, component, and compose. (Today's Good Word was recommended by one of the Good Word's excellent editors, Mary Jane Stoneburg of Lewisburg.)
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Slava
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Re: Entrepôt

Postby Slava » Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:55 am

Entrepôt seems a bit difficult to last in English, at least American. I expect we'll end up sticking with warehouse and depot.

In fact, it's so new my spell-check doesn't like it. It suggests "repent". :lol:
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rose kruvand
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Re: Entrepot

Postby rose kruvand » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:34 pm

So, is depot related with the -pot ending? What is the difference in use of these two words?

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Slava
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Re: Entrepot

Postby Slava » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:55 pm

Related and pretty much the same in meaning. I'll go out on a limb and say this one's a -pôt between depots. The beginning and end points are depots, with anything between them an entrepôt.

By the by, welcome to the Agora.
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Philip Hudson
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Re: Entrepot

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:32 am

Welcome to the Agora, Rose Kruvand. Post often.
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Re: Entrepot

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:58 pm

Yes indeed, welcome Rose. We like new people here. In computer lingo, entrepot would probably refer to a cache.
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