Etymology

salesmanship

S1A1L1E1S1M3A1N1S1H4I1P3

Today it means: The art or skill of selling products, services or ideas through persuasion and effective communication. Full definition →

Proto-Germanic *skapjaną ← English salesman ← Middle English man
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The story

  1. Englishsales
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mon-
  3. Proto-Germanic*mann-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*mann
  5. Old Englishmann
  6. Middle Englishman
  7. Englishsalesman
  8. Proto-Germanic*skapjaną
  9. English todaysalesmanship

From salesman + -ship.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.