A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term mall originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, it began to be used as a generic term for the large enclosed shopping centers that were becoming increasingly commonplace.

a very large building or buildings containing a lot of stores and restaurants, usually with space outside for parking: A shopping mall is no longer just a place to go to buy something, it’s a community and entertainment center.