やおや【八百屋】 : yaoya | define meaning

Unclear. The written kanji suggest a compound of やお【八百】 yao "multitude" and や【屋】 ya "shop; shop owner". However, the first part may have stylistically been used to represent あお【青】 ao "green", as in あおものや【青物屋】 aomonoya "greengrocery". Alternatively, the term may stem from あおや【青屋】 aoya, a reduction of the latter, which was later rendered as やおや【八百屋】 yaoya through a play on the word やお【八百】 yao or the idiom  やおよろず【八百万】 yaoyorozu "(lit.) eight million things".