Stationery

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Stationery, a shortening, recorded since 1727, of stationary wares (circa 1680) is a general name given to paper and office supplies such as envelopes, notepads, pens, pencils, erasers, paper clips, staples, etcetera. The term "stationery" is frequently used to refer more specifically to paper used for written correspondence, usually decorated and/or personalized with matching envelopes.

Originally it referred to all products sold by a stationer, whose name indicates that his book shop was on a fixed spot, usually near a university, and permanent, while medieval trading was mainly ambulent, by peddlers (including chapmen, who sold books) and others (such as farmers and craftsmen) at non-permanent markets such as fairs.

• By extension the term has been applied to decorative backgrounds that may be attached to e-mail correspondence (though this has never found favour) or to describe templates typically used by home users in desktop publishing software to make, for example, party invitations.

• The word is sometimes confused with the homophone adjective stationary, meaning "not moving", which is also derived from Latin statio. A mnemonic is "stationery has an e for envelope".

Sources and References

(incomplete)

• EtymologyOnLine
• 'Stationers' Company', A Dictionary of London (1918).ms:Alat tulis

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