consultant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈsʌl.tənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from French consultant, from Latin consultans (“consulting”), the present participle of consultāre (see consult);^[2][3][4] Etymonline describes it as consult and -ant.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who consults an oracle: 1697.^[6][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In medicine, a physician called in by the attending doctor to give an opinion, it is from 1878 in the OED, by 1872 in Etymonline, perhaps after French usage of 1867.^[6][5] A person qualified to give professional advice in general is first attested in 1893, in a Sherlock Holmes story.^[5][6] Consultancy is from 1955.^[5] In Britain a consultant is a senior hospital specialist.^[7]

Timeline

• 1697 – one who consults an oracle.^[6]
• 1872 – a consulting physician.^[5]
• 1893 – a professional adviser.^[5][6]
• 1955 – consultancy.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who gives expert or professional advice.
2. (British) A senior hospital physician, especially a specialist.
3. A person who consults another.

Word family

• consultantship

Related words

• consult
• consultancy
• consultative
• consultation
• counsel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins