magazine
UK[ˌmaɡəˈziːn]US[ˈmæɡəziːn]
n
a type of large thin book with a paper cover that contains articles, photographs, and advertisements, usually published every week or month
n
a building or room for storing military weapons and explosives
n
the part of a gun that holds the bullets before they are fired
Etymology
The word 'magazine' has a fascinating journey from a concrete storage place to an abstract repository of information. It entered English in the late 16th century from French 'magasin', meaning 'storehouse', particularly for military supplies like ammunition. This French term originated from Italian 'magazzino', a commercial word borrowed from Arabic 'makhāzin', the plural of 'makhzan' (storehouse). The semantic shift to its most common modern meaning occurred in the early 18th century, when periodical publications like The Gentleman's Magazine (1731) were metaphorically conceived as 'storehouses' or collections of varied information, articles, and entertainment, paralleling the function of a physical warehouse.
Analysis
The entire word functions as a single, unsegmentable morpheme in modern English. It is a loanword from French, which derived it from Italian 'magazzino', meaning 'storehouse'. The Italian term itself came from Arabic 'makhāzin', the plural of 'makhzan' (storehouse).
Examples
She was featured on the cover of a famous fashion magazine.
The soldiers were ordered to secure the ammunition magazine.
He removed the magazine from the rifle to check if it was loaded.