In the beginning, the browser was an herbivore who ate buds, shoots, and twigs off of trees and bushes. While grazers faced down to munch on grasses, browsers kept their heads up. They reached and craned, looking outward as they searched for sustenance.
The word took on a more figurative sense in the 19th century. As Europe industrialized, covered shopping arcades flourished across the continent. Here, sheltered from the elements, walking the promenades and taking in the sights became an upper-class form of entertainment and pleasure-seeking—particularly for women, for whom it provided a socially acceptable excuse to leave the house and move freely in public. A browser was someone who
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