salesperson

Etymology

It is formed from English sales + person.^[2][3] Sales, from the genitive of sale, had long been used in salesman, from the 1520s,^[2] and Merriam-Webster derives it from the plural of sale.^[4] The second element is used here as the combining form -person, which replaces sex-specific endings such as -man and -woman.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person employed to sell goods in a shop: 1875, in an advertisement in The Bookseller (4 May) for an experienced lady assistant who would be a "good salesperson" in a bookseller's and stationer's shop.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1901 as the first known use,^[4][5] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1915–20.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word was generally meant for people of either sex, though at times it was simply a way of avoiding saleswoman or saleslady.^[2] The plural salespeople is an Americanism of 1875–80.^[3] Later in the 20th century compounds in -person spread, especially in the press, broadcasting and government and corporate writing, to avoid the sex-marked compounds in -man and -woman.^[3]

Timeline

• 1875 – a person employed to sell goods in a shop.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1901.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person whose job is selling goods or services, in a shop or directly to customers on behalf of a company; a salesman or saleswoman, especially a salesclerk: The salesperson found the boots in my size.^[6][4][7]

Related words

• salesman
• saleswoman
• saleslady
• salesclerk
• sale
• person

Usage notes

Collins gives both plurals, salespeople and salespersons.^[6] Dictionary.com notes that some people object to -person compounds as awkward or unnecessary, holding that the long-used compounds in -man are generic, while others reject the -man forms as discriminatory when applied to women or to people whose sex is unknown or irrelevant.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin