brick and mortar

See also: brick-and-mortar

English

Alternative forms

• brick-and-mortar
• bricks and mortar, bricks-and-mortar

Adjective

brick and mortar (not comparable)

1. (business) Buildings and property for the conduct of business, particularly in the sale of retail goods to the general public. (Used to contrast an Internet-based sales operation that lacks customer-oriented store fronts and a "traditional" one for which most capital investment might be in the building infrastructure.) [from mid-1990s]

   Brick and mortar retail stores face online competition.

   • 2000, Judy Kong, in a report on the ICE Conference, "Non Traditional Clicks and Mortar Businesses: (Dinosaurs) Learn to Fly":

     E-commerce is not the kiss of death for big, traditional brick-and-mortar business.

Usage notes

• Often used attributively, especially in the form brick-and-mortar.

Synonyms

• physical
• traditional
• old-fashioned

Antonyms

• online
• internet

Translations

buildings and property for the conduct of a business

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ("brick-and-mortar") 實體的／实体的 (shítǐ de), ("brick-and-mortar shop") 實體店／实体店 (zh) (shítǐdiàn), 實體店／实体店 (zh) (shítǐdiàn)

• Czech: kamenný (cs) (kamenný obchod = brick-and-mortar shop)
• Finnish: toimitilat pl, kivijalka- (such as "kivijalkakauppa")
• German: konventionell (de), traditionell (de)
• Portuguese: físico (pt)
• Spanish: tradicional (es), físico (es)

Noun

brick and mortar (uncountable)

1. (UK) Buildings, especially domestic housing.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see brick,‎ and,‎ mortar.