Word Origin & History 1583, "place where goods are stored, esp.
military ammunition," from M.Fr. magasin "warehouse, depot,
store," from It. magazzino, from Arabic makhazin, pl. of makhzan
"storehouse," from khazana "to store up." The original sense is
almost obsolete; meaning "periodical journal" dates from the
publication of the first one, "Gentleman's Magazine," in 1731,
from earlier use of the word for a printed list of military
stores and information, or in a fig. sense, from the publication
being a "storehouse" of information.