"onsell" - Word of the Day from the OED

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onsell, v.

DRAFT ENTRY Mar. 2010

Brit. /nsl/, U.S. /nsl/, /nsl/  Forms: see ON- prefix and SELL v.  [< ON- prefix + SELL v.
  The word apparently became obsolete at the end of the Old English period and was re-formed in the 20th cent.] 

    1. trans. To give, grant, bestow. Obs.

OE Blickling Homilies 205 Is hit ealles gerisnost æt hit sy on æm dæge e se sige onseald wæs.

    2. trans. and intr. Finance. To sell (an asset, esp. one recently acquired) on to a third party, usually for a profit.

1979 ‘D. MEIRING’ Foreign Body x. 100 The four Aramoco partnerscan onsell the Arab Light they get. 1987 Business Rev Weekly (Austral.) 11 Sept. 107 Leighton is also a property developer, but has traditionally chosen to build and then onsell. 1999 Finance Week (Johannesburg) 21 May 11/1 When Hollard onsold the stake to New Africa Investments (Nail) last year.., it looked as though it had divested itself of all influence in black empowerment circles 2001 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 28 July 15/6 [They] all bought multiple units in the project. All have tried to onsell without success.

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