retail

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈriː.teɪl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English retailen (verb) and retail (noun),^[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French retail (“piece cut off, shred, scrap”) (feminine retaille),^[2][3][5] from Old French retaillier “to cut off, pare, clip, divide”,^[2][3][4] from re- “back” and taillier “to cut, trim”,^[2][3] the source of tailor.^[2][3] The sense “sale by the piece” is not in French and probably comes from the Italian cognate ritaglio, which has it.^[2][5][3] It is related to detail.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, to sell in small quantities: 1365 in the OED,^[7] 1419 in Barnhart,^[3] the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[2] The noun, sale in small quantities: 1413 in Barnhart, 1433 in the OED in adverbial phrases such as by retail.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Retail is selling in small quantities, as opposed to wholesale, selling in large ones.^[6][2] To recount, tell over again, is from 1594, in Shakespeare's Richard III,^[3] the 1590s in Etymonline.^[2] The adjective, of sale at retail, is from 1601.^[3][7][4] Retailer is from 1444, as retaillour.^[3] The retail price index is from 1924.^[7]

Timeline

• 1365 – verb, to sell in small quantities.^[7]
• 1413 – noun.^[3]
• 1444 – retailer.^[3]
• 1594 – to recount.^[3]
• 1601 – adjective.^[3][7]
• 1924 – retail price index.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The sale of goods in small quantities directly to the public.

Adjective

1. Of or engaged in such sale: retail prices.

Adverb

1. At a retail price, or in small quantities.

Verb

1. To sell goods to the public, or to be sold at a given price.
2. To tell over again; to recount in detail.

Word family

• retailer
• e-tail
• nonretail

Related words

• tailor
• detail
• wholesale

Usage notes

In the sense “to recount” the verb is often stressed on the second syllable.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press