unsold

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + sold, the second part being the past participle of sell,^[2][3][4][5] Middle English sellen,^[4] from Old English sellan.^[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the adjective itself as Middle English,^[4] and the OED compares Swedish osåld.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not disposed of by sale: 1362, in Langland's Piers Plowman.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 14th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since Middle English.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "not exchanged for money", with quotations from Dryden and Pope.^[6] It is now used above all of goods, tickets and stock left unbought.^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1362 – not disposed of by sale.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not sold; especially, of goods, not bought by anyone: Unsold copies of the magazine went back to the printer.^[7][4][2][5]

Related words

• sell

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins