consular

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English consuler,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin cōnsulāris (“of a consul”),^{[4][5][6][7][8]} formed with the adjective suffix -āris from the noun cōnsul.^[7][6] The OED compares French consulaire, of the 14th century.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a man of consular rank: about 1374, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius, which renders Latin imperium consulare as the imperie of consulers.^[4][2] As an adjective, "pertaining to a Roman consul", Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century,^[5] and the Shorter Oxford dates both uses to late Middle English.^[8]

Semantic evolution

At first the word referred to the consuls of ancient Rome: as a noun it meant an ex-consul under the Republic, or under the Empire a legate sent to govern a province.^[4][2] Johnson (1755) gave "relating to the consul" and the phrase consular man, one who had been consul.^[9] From the 17th century, according to Etymonline, it was also used of the modern office of consul in international law;^[5] the OED's first record of the sense "belonging to a consul in a foreign port" is from 1841.^[4] The adjective was also applied to the French Consulate of 1799–1804.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – noun, a man of consular rank, in Chaucer.^[4][2]
• early 15th century – adjective, of a Roman consul.^[5]
• 1533 – of the Roman consuls, in Bellenden's translation of Livy.^[4]
• 1755 – Johnson: relating to the consul, consular man.^[9]
• 1841 – of a consul in a foreign port.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a consul, an official appointed by a state to look after its citizens and interests in a foreign city, or to the consul's office: She applied for a visa at the consular section of the embassy.^[7][4]
2. Of or relating to the consuls of ancient Rome or their rank; also, of the French consulate of 1799–1804.^[7][4][8]

Noun

1. (historical) A person of consular rank, especially a former consul of the Roman Republic.^[4][8][9]

Word family

• nonconsular

Related words

• consul
• consulate
• consult
• proconsul

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.