consulate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English consulat,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin cōnsulātus (“the office of a consul”),^[5][6][7][2] from cōnsul and the suffix -ātus.^[3][8] French formed consulat in the same way.^[5] The American Heritage Dictionary thinks cōnsul possibly related to cōnsulō (“to take counsel”),^[2] and Etymonline explains a consul as probably one who consulted the Senate;^[6] the OED's older account analyses it as con- (“together”) and the root of saliō (“to leap”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The office of a Roman consul, consulship, or government by consuls: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, where a man held "tweie consulates".^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

From the late 15th to the early 17th century the word also named a body of councillors called consuls, a municipal council.^[5][9] The sense of the office or premises of a modern consul, a state's agent abroad, dates from 1702;^[5][6] before that this was called a consulship (from the 1610s).^[6] From 1845 the word was also used of the consular government of France (1799–1804), and of that period.^[5][6] Johnson (1755) gave only "the office of consul".^[10]

Timeline

• before 1387 – the office of a Roman consul; government by consuls.^[5][4]
• before 1513 – a body of consuls, a municipal council (obsolete by the early 17th century).^[5][9]
• 1702 – the office or establishment of a modern consul.^[5][6]
• 1845 – the consular government of France, 1799–1804.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The building or offices in which a consul works, or where a consul lives: He went to the consulate to renew his passport.^[11][5]
2. The office, position or term of office of a consul.^[11][3][5]
3. Government by consuls, as in ancient Rome.^[11][3][5]
4. (often capitalized) The government of France by three consuls from 1799 to 1804, or that period.^[11][5]
5. The area under a consul's jurisdiction.^[3]
6. (obsolete, late 15th–early 17th century) A body of councillors called consuls; a municipal council.^[5][9]

Word family

• consulate general

Related words

• consul
• consular
• counsel
• consult

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ 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)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins