ONSELL

transitive verb Also written on-sell (Business World) To sell (an asset, especially one recently acquired) to a third party, usually for profit. Etymology: Formed from the phrasal verb sell on, by converting the adverb on into the prefix on-. This process of converting a phrasal verb into a prefixed one is quite common in verbs used in business: compare onlend (a formation of the seventies), outplace (see outplacement), and outsource. History and Usage: This is a piece of financial jargon of the late seventies and eighties that has acquired some limited currency outside the financial markets as well. The Euro CP dealers, in bidding for paper, will most likely remain exposed to interest rate movements overnight, since they cannot onsell it until the following morning. Euromoney (Supplement) Jan. 1986, p. 79 We will buy some works by contemporary artists this year and may on-sell them if it means we can buy some better examples. Business Review Weekly 19 Feb. 1988, p. 98