almacén

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic المَخْزَن (al-maḵzán, “the warehouse”), from Arabic مَخْزَن (maḵzan). Cognate with Portuguese armazém. Doublet of magacín.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /almaˈθen/ [al.maˈθẽn] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /almaˈsen/ [al.maˈsẽn] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -en
• Syllabification: al‧ma‧cén

Noun

almacén m (plural almacenes)

1. warehouse

   Synonyms: cobertizo, depósito, nave, fundago

2. (Central America, South America) shop, store; grocer's

   Synonyms: bodega, comercio, local, negocio, tienda

3. storeroom

   Synonym: bodega

4. (Rioplatense, Colombia, Costa Rica) A store selling domestic goods, either retail or wholesale.
5. (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua) A store selling household electronics.
6. (obsolete, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela) A store selling textiles and possibly clothing.

Alternative forms

• magacén

Derived terms

• almacén de agua
• almacén de datos
• almacén de rezago
• almacenar
• almacenero
• almacenista
• gastar almacén
• gran almacén
• mucho almacén

Related terms

• almacenamiento

Descendants

• → Paraguayan Guarani: almasẽ

Further reading

• “almacén”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “almacén”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• “almacén”, in Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española [Thesaurus of the Historical Dictionaries of the Spanish Language], Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], launched 2021
• “almacén”, in Diccionario del español de México [Dictionary of the Spanish of Mexico] (in Spanish), second edition, Mexican Academy of the Language [Spanish: Academia Mexicana de la Lengua], 2019
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “almacén”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA