Bestsellers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Highly successful publications that rank prominently in sales and are widely popular among readers
2. Notable works that consistently generate high sales volumes and appeal to a broad audience
3. Works that achieve exceptional sales numbers and widespread customer interest

Etymology: "Bestsellers" is the plural of "bestseller," a compound formed from "best" and "seller," with the plural ending added to the noun. The combination itself is transparent: a "seller" is someone or something that sells, and "best" in the sense of most successful gives a product that sells more than all its rivals. The pattern is an ordinary English compound, so the more interesting question is when the sense of "best" was attached to a whole class of goods rather than to a single item. Because the word is built from familiar parts, its history is mostly a matter of how the phrase came to name a category. Publishing and retail adopted it to describe titles that top sales charts, and the term became a standard label in booksellers' lists and reviews. Its earlier uses were looser, applying to any product that sold particularly well, before it settled into the specific sense used for books today.

Synonyms: top sellers, hit books, popular titles