Sale

How to spell sale

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sale

What does sale mean?

1. nounThe exchange of goods or property for money.
2. nounA period during which a shop offers goods at reduced prices.

Sale in a sentence

• The sale of the house was finalised after months of negotiation.

• The winter sale slashed prices on coats and boots.

• Every sale recorded at the till adds to the daily total.

• She queued outside the store before the January sale opened.

Where does sale come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the Old English noun sala, meaning the act of selling or handing something over for payment, and it was reinforced by the related Old Norse word sala carried into English during the Viking settlements. Both trace back to the same Germanic root that also gives us the verb 'sell', so 'sale' is simply the noun standing beside the verb, much as 'tale' stands beside 'tell'. Over the centuries the meaning broadened from the bare act of exchanging goods for money to also cover a special trading period in which a shop lowers its prices. The spelling has stayed short and plain, which is exactly why it is so easily swapped for its homophone 'sail'; the clue is that 'sale' shares its 'sel' family with 'sell', while 'sail' belongs with the wind and the sea.

How the word is built

• sal- (from Old English sala: act of selling)
• -e

Words that sound like sale

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• sail: A sheet of fabric spread to catch the wind and propel a boat or ship.