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consistent

Etymology and origin of the English word consistent

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1570s
Borrowed from
Latin consistens
Ultimate origin
Latin (consistere)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kənˈsɪs.tənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsistentem, the present participle of cōnsistere “to stand firm, take a position, stop”,[2][3][4] from con- “together” and sistere “to place”,[2] a causative of stāre “to stand”,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).[2] It is related to consist and consistency.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Consisting or composed of, a sense now obsolete: the 1570s in Etymonline, 1578 in the OED.[2][5] Consistent age, the age when growth has stopped, is from 1574.[5]

Semantic evolution

Standing still or firm is from 1604,[5] remaining in the same state from 1647,[5] and of a material, holding together, firm, from 1647, a physical sense that survives in consistency.[5][2] Standing together in agreement, compatible, is from the 1640s (1646 in the OED), and 1638 in MWU;[2][5][3] being in agreement with itself, coherent, is from 1651,[5] and marked by consistency, steady, from 1732.[2]

Timeline

  • 1574 – consistent age.[5]
  • 1578 – consisting of (obsolete).[5]
  • 1604 – standing firm.[5]
  • 1646 – in agreement with.[5]
  • 1732 – steady, uniform.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Always behaving or happening in the same way; reliable.
  2. In agreement with something; compatible: consistent with the facts.
  3. Without parts that contradict each other.

Word family

  • consistently
  • self-consistent
  • consist
  • consistence
  • consistency
  • inconsistent
  • insist
  • persist
  • stand

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Consistent.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/consistent. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·