Galleria

/ɡəˈlɛriə/ noun

Definition

A covered shopping arcade or walkway with shops on both sides, or a gallery for displaying art.

Etymology

From Italian galleria, from Old French galerie, from Medieval Latin galeria. The exact origin is debated—possibly from Gallia (Gaul/France), or from a word meaning 'to walk.' It originally meant a long room or passage, then evolved to mean a covered shopping area.

Kelly Says

The first modern shopping mall—Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan (1877)—was designed to copy Parisian arcades and became so successful that 'galleria' became the name for the entire shopping mall concept across Europe.

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