Consignment

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kənˈsaɪnmənt/

Definitions

1. A business arrangement where goods are sent to a seller who pays only after the items are sold
2. A contractual arrangement entails the delivery of goods to a retailer who recompenses the supplier only after the items have been sold
3. An agreement involving the transfer of goods to an agent who sells them on behalf of the owner, with payment made only after sales occur

Etymology: The word "consignment" is a straightforward compound: the verb "consign" plus the suffix "-ment", which turns a verb into a noun for the act or result of doing something. The verb "consign" traces back through Old French and Latin to a root meaning to seal or mark something with a sign, a sense that still lingers in the idea of formally handing goods over. The suffix has a longer pedigree, coming from Latin "-mentum" and, beyond that, from ancient roots used to form nouns of result. The commercial sense is the one most readers meet today. Goods sent to a shop or agent on consignment remain the property of the sender until they sell, and the seller pays only then. Here the word's business meaning is a narrowing of its general sense of something consigned or delivered, a shipment entrusted to someone else's care.

Synonyms: shipment, delivery, package, dispatch, transfer

Antonyms: receipt, acceptance, take, withdrawal, rejection