sale

A2 Topic:Shopping & Services

US /seɪl/ See IPA manual

Homophones

sail /seɪl/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like sell /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/ Sounds like cell /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Freq #2401

Meanings

1

noun
The act of selling something, or an item that is sold.

The shop made a big sale to a new customer this morning.
2

noun
A time when a shop sells goods at lower prices than usual.

I bought this coat in the winter sale for half price.
3

noun
The general activity or business of selling things.

The company is trying to boost the sale of its new phones.
4

noun
A formal agreement to transfer property to a buyer for an agreed price.

They signed the sales agreement at the lawyer's office.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a time when a shop sells... cut-rate sale

4 noun · a formal agreement to... sales agreement

More vend vent

Opposites

purchase

Word family

Forms sales

Derived forms aftersalecrowdsalee-salesfire-saleintersalenonsaleoff-saleoversaleportsalepostsalepresaleresale

Related forms purchase sell

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

rummage sale
a sale of donated used goods, often to raise money

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Freedom is not for sale

Simplified etymology

Sale entered Old English through Old Norse and comes from the same Germanic root as sell. Its familiar sense of an event offering goods at reduced prices dates from the mid-19th century.

Etymology

From Middle English sale, sal, from Old English sæl (“room, hall, castle”), from Proto-Germanic *salą (“house, hall”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“home, dwelling, village”). Cognate with West Frisian seal, Dutch zaal, German Saal, Swedish sal, Icelandic salur, Lithuanian sala (“village”). Doublet of sala and salle. Related also to salon, saloon.

sale Middle English sæl Old English *salą Proto-Germanic *sel- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Shopping & Services Register & Style

External links

# sale

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /seɪl/
**Frequency rank:** 2401

## Meanings
1. The act of selling something, or an item that is sold.
2. A time when a shop sells goods at lower prices than usual.
3. The general activity or business of selling things.
4. A formal agreement to transfer property to a buyer for an agreed price.

## Examples
- The shop made a big sale to a new customer this morning.
- I bought this coat in the winter sale for half price.
- The company is trying to boost the sale of its new phones.
- They signed the sales agreement at the lawyer's office.

## Synonyms
- vend
- vent

## Antonyms
- purchase

## Derived Forms
- aftersale
- crowdsale
- e-sales
- fire-sale
- intersale
- nonsale
- off-sale
- oversale
- portsale
- postsale
- presale
- resale

## Related Forms
- purchase
- sell

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sale
- Root: sæl
- Root: *salą
- Root: *sel-

## Etymology
From Middle English sale, sal, from Old English sæl (“room, hall, castle”), from Proto-Germanic *salą (“house, hall”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“home, dwelling, village”). Cognate with West Frisian seal, Dutch zaal, German Saal, Swedish sal, Icelandic salur, Lithuanian sala (“village”). Doublet of sala and salle. Related also to salon, saloon.

## AI Etymology
Sale comes from Middle English sale, sal, from Old English sæl (“room, hall, castle”), from Proto-Germanic *salą (“house, hall”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“home, dwelling, village”). Cognate with West Frisian seal, Dutch zaal, German Saal, Swedish sal, Icelandic salur, Lithuanian sala (“village”). Doublet of sala and salle. Related also to salon, saloon. Modern senses include the act of selling something, or an item that is sold. and a time when a shop sells goods at lower prices than usual.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as aftersale, crowdsale, e-sales, fire-sale, intersale, and nonsale and related forms such as purchase and sell.

## Topics
- Shopping & Services
- Register & Style

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