Dictionary

entrepôt en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɒntɹəpəʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɒ̃-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌɒntɹəˈpəʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌɑntɹəˈpoʊ/ (General-American)

Etymology

PIE word *h₁én Borrowed from French entrepôt, entrepost (“temporary storage of goods; place for temporary storage and distribution of goods”) (archaic), from entreposer (“to store goods in a warehouse”), with the ending influenced by dépôt (“store, warehouse, depot”).

Meanings

1. A city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export, especially one where such merchandise is exempt from some customs duties; hence, a commercial centre.
   • South of Taichung is the old port town of Lu-kang. Here again we come face to face with Taiwan's past, sometimes in dramatic fashion. Founded in the seventeenth century, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Lu-kang was an important port city with strong ties to Ch'uan-chou—the eighteenth-century classic but declining entrepôt of southern Min Fukien. 1999, Murray A. Rubenstein, “Introduction”, in Murray A. Rubinstein, editor, Taiwan: A New History (An East Gate Book; Taiwan in the Modern World), Armonk, N.Y.; London: M[yron] E. Sharpe, →ISBN, page x:
   • A former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong has long enjoyed a reputation as a capitalist entrepôt where companies operate relatively free from regulation. 2025 March 31, Ann Scott Tyson, “How a 43-port business deal threatens China’s global power”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2025:
   • So why is Mr [David] Cameron's government pursuing an immigration policy that is creating red tape, stifling entrepreneurs and hobbling Britain? The country has, in effect, installed a "keep out" sign over the white cliffs of Dover. Even as Mr Cameron defends the City of London as a global financial centre, and takes planeloads of business folk on foreign trips, his government ratchets up measures that would turn an entrepôt into a fortress. 2012 October 20, “Immigration: The Tories’ barmiest policy”, in The Economist, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2012:
2. (archaic) The temporary storage of merchandise, especially for subsequent distribution or export.
3. (also, archaic, figuratively) A depot or warehouse for temporarily storing merchandise.

Forms

Translations (17)

fi makasiini (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · cmn 轉口港 /转口港 (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · fi välivarasto (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · mk прето́варен пункт (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · ru пакга́уз (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · fi pakkahuone (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · fi välivarastointi (temporary storage of merchandise, especially for subsequent distribution or export) · bg безмитно пристанище (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · io staplo (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · fi varasto (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · ru перева́лочный пу́нкт (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · ar ميناء إعادة التصدير (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · de Packhaus (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · bg ентрепот (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · de Zolllager (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export) · fi kaupankäynnin keskus (commercial centre) · nl douane-entrepot (city, port, or other place where merchandise is sent for import, processing, distribution, and/or export)