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pantechnicon

(chiefly, Britain) Originally pantechnicon van: a van, especially a large moving or removal van.

pænˈtɛknɪkənDocumented since 1830sSilenthistorical160 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
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Born ~1830 · no dated citations yet
1830BornToday, 2026

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UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK

(chiefly, Britain) Originally pantechnicon van: a van, especially a large moving or removal van.

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UK
#2·Apr 27, 2026UK

(chiefly, Britain) A building or place housing shops or stalls where all sorts of (especially exotic) manufactured articles are collected for sale.

It is plain, that such writers do not rise to the very idea of a University. They consider it a sort of bazaar, or pantechnicon, in which wares of all kinds are heaped together for sale in stalls independent of each other; and that, to s…
Origin: From Pantechnicon, a 19th-century firm which owned a building with a Greek-style facade of Doric columns in Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square, London, UK, with a picture gallery, a furniture shop, a shop selling carriages, and a warehouse for storing customers’ furniture and other items. The firm used large horse-drawn vans to collect and deliver their customers' property, which came to be known as Pantechnicon vans. The word was coined by the firm from all (from , neuter form of all, every) + τεχνικόν, neuter singular of technical. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents

"pantechnicon" means a building or place housing shops or stalls where all sorts of (especially exotic) manufactured articles are collected for sale. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.

For ESL learners

"pantechnicon" is informal English meaning a building or place housing shops or stalls where all sorts of (especially exotic) manufactured articles are collected for sale. It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "a building or place housing shops or stalls where all sorts of (especially exotic) manufactured articles are collected for sale" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "pantechnicon" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing.

Heard in the wild
  • “Information from its **[description page there](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pantechnicon,_Motcomb_Street_(geograph_4722322).jpg "commons:File:Pantechnicon, Motcomb Street (geograph 4722322).jpg")** is shown below.”

  • “Their clients required storage facilities and this was built on an awkward left-over triangular site with a Greek style [Doric column](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doric_column "Doric column") façade, and called Pantechnicon, pseudo-Greek for "pertaining to all the arts or crafts".”

  • “[Jump to content](https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Pantechnicon_van&redirect=no#bodyContent) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Redirect page Redirect to: - [Pantechnicon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantechnicon "Pantechnicon") | | | | --- | --- | | | **This page is a [redirect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Redirect "Wikipedia:Redirect").”

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