Sail or sale?
sail is a noun meaning “A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind…”; sale is a noun meaning “An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) sale is about 9.5 times as common as sail.
What is the difference between sail and sale?
| sail | sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination… The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power | An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit The act of putting up for auction to the highest bidder |
| Example | Take in sail: a storm is coming | He celebrated after the sale of company |
| Forms | sails | sales |
| Pronunciation | /seɪl/ [seɪɫ] /seɪ.əl/ | /seːl/ /seɪl/ |
| In writing | 10 times per million words | 98 times per million words |
Sources: sail and sale in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sail and sale
sail
- 1
A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes
- 2
To be impelled or driven forward by the action of wind upon sails, as a ship on water; to be impelled on a body of water by steam or other power
- 3
Acronym of snow avalanche impact landform
- 4
The concept of a sail or sails, as if a substance
Take in sail: a storm is coming
- 5
To move through or on the water; to swim, as a fish or a waterfowl
- 6
The power harnessed by a sail or sails, or the use of this power for travel or transport
- 7
To ride in a boat, especially a sailboat
- 8
A trip in a boat, especially a sailboat
Let's go for a sail
sale
- 1
An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit
He celebrated after the sale of company
- 2
Ellipsis of discount sale (“the sale of goods at reduced prices”)
They are having a clearance sale: 50% off
- 3
The act of putting up for auction to the highest bidder
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sail or sale?
sail appears 10 times per million words; sale 98 times per million words.
sail 10 times per million wordssale 98 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).