788: stationary versus stationery Feb 3, 2017

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If you were to describe (naturally) immobile paper, would it be 'stationary  stationery' or 'stationary stationery'? The answer is the latter option, but those two spellings are often confused due to the similar spelling and nearly identical pronunciation. In fact both words are derivatives of the word 'station' which is from the Latin 'stare' meaning ‘to stand’. As a point of fact this is not where the English, 'stare' is derived from though. 'Station' in Middle English denoted physical position, but also especially social position and in religious contexts ‘a holy place of pilgrimage (visited as one of a succession)’. 'Stationary' refers to the physical location, but so does 'stationery'. A 'stationer' was the owner of a store that did move around on a cart or a tent or some other kind of booth, especially denoting the seller of books which led to the meaning of 'stationery' as papers.

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