consult

consult

English

Etymology

From Middle French consulter, from Latin cōnsultō (“to deliberate, consult”), frequentative of cōnsulō (“to consult, deliberate, consider, reflect upon, ask advice”), from com- (“together”) + -sulō, from Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“to take, grab”).

Pronunciation

Noun

• enPR: kŏn'sŭlt or kənsŭlt'
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnsʌlt/, /kənˈsʌlt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnsʌlt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌlt

Verb

• enPR: kənsŭlt', IPA^(key): /kənˈsʌlt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌlt

Noun

consult (plural consults)

1. (obsolete) The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation
2. (obsolete) the result of consultation; determination; decision.
   • a. 1701 (date written)​, John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, OCLC 863244003, page 431:

     [T]he council broke; / And all their grave conſults diſſolv'd in ſmoke.

3. (obsolete) A council; a meeting for consultation.
   • 1730, Jonathan Swift, Death and Daphne, Chapter 5

     a consult of coquettes

4. (obsolete) Agreement; concert.
5. (US) A visit, e.g. to a doctor; a consultation.

Usage notes

• The noun consult is avoided in British English, where consultation is preferred. In American English, they are merely synonyms.

Synonyms

• consultation

Verb

consult (third-person singular simple present consults, present participle consulting, simple past and past participle consulted)

1. (intransitive) To seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene iii]:

     Let us consult upon to-morrow's business.

   • 1661 (written), published in 1681, Thomas Hobbes, A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England

     All the laws of England have been made by the kings of England, consulting with the nobility and commons.

2. (intransitive) To advise or offer expertise.
3. (intransitive) To work as a consultant or contractor rather than as a full-time employee of a firm.
4. (transitive) To ask advice of; to seek the opinion of (a person)
   • 1899, John Cotton Dana, chapter 1, in A Library Primer:

     If you have no library commission, consult a lawyer and get from him a careful statement of what can be done under present statutory regulations.

5. (transitive) To refer to (something) for information.

   Coordinate term: look up

   • 1904, Guy Wetmore Carryl, chapter 3, in Far from the Maddening Girls:

     Which reminds me that I have never remembered from that hour to consult the dictionary upon a selvage.

   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences

     Men forgot, or feared, to consult nature, to seek for new truths, to do what the great discoverers of other times had done; they were content to consult libraries.

6. (transitive) To have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes.
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], OCLC 228727523:

     We are […] to consult the necessities of life, rather than matters of ornament and delight.

7. (transitive, obsolete) To deliberate upon; to take for.
   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, OCLC 937919305:

     Many things were there consulted for the future, yet nothing was positively resolved.

8. (transitive, obsolete) To bring about by counsel or contrivance; to devise; to contrive.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Habakkuk 2:10:

     Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people.

Derived terms

• consultancy
• consultative
• consulter
• consulting room
• consultor
• consultress
• e-consulting

 

Related terms

• consultant
• consultation

Translations

deliberate together

French: se concerter (fr) German: Rat halten Hebrew: התייעץ‎ (hitya'éts) Russian: обсужда́ть (ru) impf (obsuždátʹ), обсуди́ть (ru) pf (obsudítʹ); совеща́ться (ru) impf (soveščátʹsja)

ask advice

Arabic: اِسْتَشَارَ‎ (istašāra) Bulgarian: съветвам се (sǎvetvam se), съвещавам се (sǎveštavam se) Catalan: consultar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: rådspørge Dutch: raadplegen (nl) Esperanto: konsulti (eo) Finnish: keskustella (fi), neuvotella (fi) French: consulter (fr) German: beraten (de), beratschlagen (de) Hebrew: התייעץ‎ (hitya'étz) Indonesian: berkonsultasi (id) Italian: consultarsi (it) Latin: consulo (la), sciscitor Norwegian: Bokmål: rådspørre Portuguese: consultar (pt) Russian: сове́товаться (ru) impf (sovétovatʹsja), консульти́роваться (ru) impf (konsulʹtírovatʹsja), совеща́ться (ru) impf (soveščátʹsja) Spanish: consultar (es)

to advise or offer expertise

Arabic: نَصَحَ‎ (ar) (naṣaḥa) Bulgarian: консултирам (konsultiram) Finnish: neuvoa (fi) German: beraten (de) Russian: консульти́ровать (ru) impf (konsulʹtírovatʹ), советовать (ru) impf (sovetovatʹ) Slovak: konzultovať Zazaki: şewêrnaene

intransitive, to work as a consultant

Bulgarian: консултирам (konsultiram) Finnish: konsultoida (fi)

transitive, to ask advice of; to seek the opinion of

Arabic: اِسْتَشَارَ‎ (istašāra) Bulgarian: допитвам се (dopitvam se) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: raadplegen (nl) Finnish: pyytää neuvoa, kysyä neuvoa French: consulter (fr) German: um Rat fragen, um Rat nachsuchen, zu Rate ziehen, befragen (de) Italian: consultare (it) Latin: sciscitor Maore Comorian: uendra ha Ngazidja Comorian: ushawiri Norwegian: Bokmål: konsultere Nynorsk: konsultera, konsultere Portuguese: consultar (pt) Quechua: taripay Russian: консульти́роваться (ru) impf (konsulʹtírovatʹsja)

transitive, to have reference to, in judging or acting

Further reading

• consult in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• consult in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

Anagrams

• Cultons

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin consultum.

Noun

consult n (plural consulturi)

1. consultation

Declension

Declension of consult

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) consult	consultul	(niște) consulturi	consulturile
genitive/dative	(unui) consult	consultului	(unor) consulturi	consulturilor
vocative	consultule		consulturilor