Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “retailer” come from?

Retailer derives from English retail plus the agent suffix -er, tracing through Old French -er, Latin -are and -arius, to the Proto-Indo-European root wer- meaning to turn or spend.

retailer (English): A retail sales company or salesman

Definitions

  1. A retail sales company or salesman

Ancestry of “retailer”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishretailThe sale of goods directly to the consumer,...
2Old Frenchretaillierto shape by cutting; to circumcise; to diminish;...
3Old Frenchre-re-
4Latinrĕ-—
5Latinprōdūcō—
6Latinprō-—
7Proto-Italic*pro-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
10Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “retailer”

  • megaretailer
  • nonretailer
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →