retail

Etymology

From the Old French verb retaillier.

noun

1. (business) 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. (colloquial) Retail 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.

adj

1. Of or relating to the (actual or figurative) sale of goods or services directly to individuals.
   "This is a very retail approach for us," Czerw said. "But when you buy one out of every six home loans in the US, you are going to have a constant flow ..." December 28, 1997, “Freddie Mac establishes existing-home sales division”, in Deseret News
   The future for Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., also looks very retail. Plans call for $156 million to expand the main terminal, December 12, 1999, Naedine Joy Hazell, “TRAVEL INSIDER; Airport Malls Redefine 'Shopping on the Fly'”, in Los Angeles Times
   But even with her level of celebrity, it would be very hard to win a race without engaging voters in a very retail way. September 17, 2010, “Sarah Palin's visit to Iowa keeps fans guessing”, in Des Moines Register

adv

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. To sell at retail, or in small quantities directly to customers.
   a half part of this purveying is carried on within the city and is called retailing. 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 223d
2. (archaic) To sell secondhand, or in broken parts.
3. To repeat or circulate (news or rumours) to others.
   He retailed to them the curious interchange of phrases he had overheard on the journey from Aleppo. 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 12, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 157
   He became quite pale as he retailed these stories to Constance. 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 762
   The fantasies of blood libel that Bosnian Serbs retailed about Bosnian Muslims were the fantasies that Rhinelanders had centuries earlier retailed about the Jews they had murdered. February 1, 1998, Alan Ryan, “Hot Spots (review of The Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience by Michael Ignatieff)”, in The New York Times