wholesale

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhoʊl.seɪl/ UK /ˈhəʊl.seɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
relating to selling goods in bulk, or done on a large indiscriminate scale

The fire caused the wholesale destruction of the warehouse district.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · relating to selling goods... bulk mass indiscriminate sweeping extensive

Opposites

retail selective piecemeal

Word family

Derived forms wholesaler

Related forms whole sale

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

wholesale destruction
Destruction affecting a very large area or nearly everything involved.

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English whole sale, literally 'sale in large quantity', a compound of whole + sale, from Old English hāl ('whole') and sala ('a selling').

hāl Old English sala lng

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# wholesale

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈhoʊl.seɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhəʊl.seɪl/

## Meanings
1. relating to selling goods in bulk, or done on a large indiscriminate scale

## Examples
- The fire caused the wholesale destruction of the warehouse district.

## Synonyms
- bulk
- mass
- indiscriminate
- sweeping
- extensive

## Antonyms
- retail
- selective
- piecemeal

## Derived Forms
- wholesaler

## Related Forms
- whole
- sale

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hāl
- Root: sala

## Etymology
From Middle English whole sale, literally 'sale in large quantity', a compound of whole + sale, from Old English hāl ('whole') and sala ('a selling').

## AI Etymology
Wholesale comes from Middle English whole sale, literally 'sale in large quantity', a compound of whole + sale, from Old English hāl ('whole') and sala ('a selling'). In current use it is an adjective, noun, and adverb meaning "relating to selling goods in bulk, or done on a large indiscriminate scale". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English hāl and Old English sala. Related English forms include whole and sale. A derived form is wholesaler. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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