Stationary or Stationery?
Why are the spellings so similar, when is it the 'e' or the 'a'. We love to progress stationery jobs with great expertise, and thought it'd be worth knowing the difference in the spelling... (and why!)
First things first: Stationary.
When spelt with an 'a', Station a
ry means to be still. This comes from the latin word meaning:motionless.
late 14c., "having no apparent motion" (in reference to planets), from Middle French
stationnaire
"motionless" and directly from Latin
stationarius
, from the stem of
statio
"a standing, post, job, position" (see
station
(n.)). Meaning "unmovable" is from 1620s. In classical Latin,
stationarius
is recorded only in the sense "of a military station;" the word for "stationary, steady" being
statarius
.
Now the one we do: Stationery
It turns out, Stationery comes from Stationary. Isn't that confusing?
Basically, back in the middle ages traders would visit villages and towns to sell their wares. However, books and various paper products in bulk can be pretty heavy - you wouldn't expect a travelling library by horse and cart going far! Due to this weight, many paper sellers would setup a more permanent location. Their shop was stationary, so these sellers became known as "stationers". Slowly over time, the products sold by stationers became known as stationery.
By definition, any item sold in a permanent shop could technically be called stationery... but wouldn't that be absolutely confusing?
' I bought you some lovely stationery for your new job ' . . . *hands over cans of beer*.
Oh well! Another fun fact that may come up one day in a distant pub quiz!
