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retail

re·tail/ˈɹiˌteɪl/noun, adjective, adverb, verb

retail is a noun meaning “The sale of goods directly to the consumer, encompassing the storefronts, mail-order, websites, etc., and the corporate mechanisms, branding…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-T-A-I-L and has 2 syllables (re·tail), and it appears 35 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does retail mean?

noun

  1. 1

    The sale of goods directly to the consumer, encompassing the storefronts, mail-order, websites, etc., and the corporate mechanisms, branding, advertising, etc. that support them.

    She works in retail.

  2. 2

    The sale of securities or other financial instruments to private investors, as opposed to large institutions.

  3. 3

    colloquialRetail price; full price; an abbreviated expression, meaning the full suggested price of a particular good or service, before any sale, discount, or other deal.

    I never pay retail for clothes.

adjective

  1. 1

    Of or relating to the (actual or figurative) sale of goods or services directly to individuals.

adverb

  1. 1

    Direct to consumers, in retail quantities, or at retail prices.

    We've shut shown our reseller unit. We're only selling retail now.

verb

  1. 1

    To sell at retail, or in small quantities directly to customers.

  2. 2

    archaicTo sell secondhand, or in broken parts.

  3. 3

    To repeat or circulate (news or rumours) to others.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce retail?

  • US /ˈɹiˌteɪl/
  • US [ˈɹ̠ʷiˌtʰeɪ̯ɫ]

Retail has 2 syllables, split re·tail in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-retail.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-retail.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of retail

  • retails present, singular, he/she/it
  • retailing participle, present
  • retailed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is retail?

Retail appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,725th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Retail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchvente au détail (sale of goods directly to the consumer), vendre au détail (to sell at retail, or in small quantities…)
GermanEinzelhandel, Einzelhandelsabsatz, Kleinverkauf (sale of goods directly to the consumer), Originalpreis, regulärer Preis, Ladenpreis (retail price)
Portuguesevarejo, retalho (sale of goods directly to the consumer), vender a varejo (to sell at retail, or in small quantities…)
Spanishventa al por menor, venta al detalle, retail, minorismo (sale of goods directly to the consumer), al detalle, al por menor (relating to the sale of goods or services…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does retail come from?

From the Old French verb retaillier.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).