Etymologically
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retail

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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

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