retail
/ˈɹiˌteɪl/
"retail" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retail” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,757 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,757
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retail |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹiˌteɪl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,757 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retail” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for retail is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹiˌteɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,757 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for retail, with forms such as "ertail", "reatil", and "retaill". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "retain", "retard", "retake", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the Old French verb retaillier. The correct English form is retail, spelled R-E-T-A-I-L.
Definition
- 1The sale of goods directly to the consumer, encompassing the storefronts, mail-order, websites, etc., and the corporate mechanisms, branding, advertising, etc. that support them.
- 2Retail price; full price; an abbreviated expression, meaning the full suggested price of a particular good or service, before any sale, discount, or other deal.
Etymology
From the Old French verb retaillier.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ertail,reatil,retaill,retali,retial,rettail,rretail,rteail
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of retail - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "retail"?
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Using “retail”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-T-A-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹiˌteɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “retain” - see the side-by-side comparison. retail vs retain
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.