Etymograph

English

sale

Sale comes from Old English sala ‘act of selling, sale’, from Proto-Germanic *salō ‘delivery’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- ‘to grab’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₁-1‘to grab’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*salō1‘delivery’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350sala1
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sala1‘act of selling’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sale1
  6. Englishtodaysale1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sale

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₁-Wiktionary, English sale‘to grab’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*salōWiktionary, English sale‘delivery’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350salaWiktionary, English sale
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150salaWiktionary, English sale‘act of selling’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saleWiktionary, English sale
  6. EnglishtodaysaleWiktionary, English sale

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- ‘to grab’

council, sell, counsel, consult, consul, consigliere, 3 more

Today it means

noun An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sale”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- / sale

Shirt and support for this word