window-shop
Meaning
To look at the goods displayed in shop windows without intending to buy anything.
Structure
Usage
We didn't have any money, so we just spent the afternoon window-shopping.
I often window-shop for inspiration before deciding what to buy.
The high street was crowded with people window-shopping for the holidays.
Etymology
The verb 'window-shop' is a 20th-century back-formation from the earlier noun 'window-shopping'. The logic is transparently literal: the activity involves 'shopping' at the 'window', meaning to browse the merchandise visible through a store's display window. The first element, 'window', has a poetic Norse origin meaning "wind-eye", which evolved to mean any aperture for light and view, and later specifically the glazed street-front of a retail store. The second element, 'shop', originates from Old English, denoting a place of trade. Combined, they create a vivid image of the modern urban consumer practice of leisurely examining goods from the public sidewalk, an activity defined by its deliberate separation from the actual commercial transaction inside.
Analysis
- window: From Old Norse 'vindauga' ('wind eye'), a compound of 'vindr' (wind) and 'auga' (eye). In this compound, it functions as a noun, referring to the glass-fronted display opening of a store. - shop: From Old English 'sceoppa' (booth, stall for trade), of Germanic origin. In this compound, it functions as a noun, referring to the commercial establishment.