Bookseller

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbʊksɛlɚ/

Definitions

1. A person or business that sells bound written works to customers
2. An entity or individual involved in the commerce of literary works, specializing in selling written and bound publications to consumers
3. An individual or company engaged in offering printed books for sale to the public

Etymology: Bookseller is a plain compound: "book" plus "seller," and the pairing is older than it looks. Its earliest form, in Middle English, was "boksellere" or "bok-sillere," so the word was already in use before the age of printing made book trade a mass business. The pattern is transparent, and English has long built many trade nouns this way, from "fishmonger" to "wine merchant." The second element carries its own history. "Seller" comes from the Old English verb "sellan," meaning to give or hand over, a sense that survives in the older idea of giving something in exchange. Over time the trading sense took over, so a seller became simply the person who hands goods across a counter for money, which is exactly what a bookseller does.

Synonyms: bookstore owner, book merchant, book dealer, publisher, retailer