noun
salesperson; shop assistant; vendor
General term for someone who sells goods, ranging from store clerks to street vendors. The cross-reference 販売員 is a more formal equivalent.
See also: 販売員
彼女はデパートの売り子として働いている。
She works as a salesperson at a department store.
祭りでは、売り子が
noun
Archaic meaning; not used in modern Japanese. Historically referred to a male sex worker.
江戸時代の文献には、売り子が男娼を指す用例が見られる。
In Edo-period documents, there are examples where 売り子 refers to a male prostitute.
At the festival, vendors were loudly calling out to customers.
More formal and specific to sales staff in a commercial setting, while 売り子 can also refer to street vendors or hawkers.
Compound of 売り (uri, 'selling', the continuative form of 売る) and 子 (ko, 'person' or 'child'), literally 'selling person'. The archaic sense likely developed from the idea of someone who sells their body.