consolation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English consolacioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French consolacion (“solace, comfort; delight”),^[5][6][7][8] and partly directly borrowed from Latin cōnsōlātiō (“a consoling, comfort”),^[3][2][7][8] a noun of action from cōnsōlor (“to offer solace, comfort”),^[5][6][9] from com-, here perhaps intensive, and sōlor (“to comfort”),^[5][7][10] the source of solace.^[5][10][11] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the first half of the 12th century, also for the Consolation of Boethius.^[12] The verb console followed in the 17th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Comfort in sorrow or distress, the action of consoling or the state of being consoled: about 1374, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.^[6][13] The Middle English Dictionary also records the sense "gratification, pleasure".^[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline dates "that which consoles" to the late 14th century and "act of consoling" to about 1400.^[5] From about 1460 the word could mean a person or thing that brings comfort, and it then took a plural.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as comfort or alleviation of misery, especially "such alleviation as is produced by partial remedies".^[14] In the 18th century it was a term of card games such as ombre and quadrille (1768),^[6] and Weekley derives the consolation prize from the practice at cards of giving something to the loser;^[10] the phrase is recorded from 1853 in Etymonline and 1866 in the OED.^[5][6] In American slang of the 19th century consolation was liquor, usually whisky.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – comfort in sorrow or distress.^[6]
• c. 1460 – a person or thing that consoles.^[6]
• 1768 – a term in card games such as ombre.^[6]
• 1853 – consolation prize.^[5]
• 1863 – American slang, whisky.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. Comfort given to or felt by someone in grief, loss or disappointment; the act of consoling or the state of being consoled: He found consolation in long walks after the funeral.^{[16][3][6][8]}
2. A person or thing that gives comfort: The only consolation was that nobody was hurt.^[16][6][8]
3. In sports, a contest or round for players knocked out before the final, often to decide third and fourth place.^[16]

Word family

• consolatory
• consolation prize

Related words

• console
• solace
• disconsolate

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt