conseguente

Forms

conseguente (plural conseguenti)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsequēns (“following, consequent”), the present participle of cōnsequor (“to follow”).^[2][1] Italian uses it as the present participle of conseguire, which DELI also takes from Latin, remade after seguire.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is con- with sequor (“to follow”).^[2][7] The older form consequente keeps the Latin ⟨qu⟩.^[5][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Dante's Convivio of 1304–1307, where consequente is a noun, the second term of a logical consequence.^[9][2] The adjective “following, that comes after” is first found in Alberto della Piagentina, before 1332.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used the adjective for what results from something and for what comes next in a series, and the phrases per conseguente and in conseguente meant “consequently”.^[9] Giovanni Villani promises to tell altre cose conseguenti to a king's passage into Italy.^[10]

The sense “consistent, coherent” is dated 1798 (Galdi), and the noun form conseguente appears in Daniello Bartoli, before 1685.^[2] In mathematics the consequents are the second and fourth terms of a proportion.^[4][5] In music it names the voice that answers the leading part in a canon or fugue, recorded in 1622, and in this sense it passed into French (1703) and German (1732).^[11]

Timeline

• 1304–1307 – Dante's Convivio has consequente as a term of logic.^[9]
• Before 1332 – Alberto della Piagentina uses the adjective.^[2]
• 1622 – The musical sense is first recorded.^[11]
• Before 1685 – Daniello Bartoli uses the noun in the form conseguente.^[2]
• 1703 – French conseguente in music.^[11]
• 1732 – German Conseguente.^[11]
• 1798 – The sense “coherent” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Following from or resulting from something, with a: le spese conseguenti al trasloco.^{[4][5][6][12]}
2. Logical, following correctly from what precedes: una conclusione conseguente.^[4][5][6]
3. Of a person, consistent with their principles: sii conseguente con te stesso.^{[4][5][6][12]}

Noun

1. (logic, philosophy) The consequent: the second term of a consequence, which follows from the first, the antecedente.^{[4][5][6][12]}
2. (mathematics) Each of the second and fourth terms of a proportion.^[4][5][6]
3. (music) The voice that answers the antecedent in a canon or fugue.^[11]

Word family

• inconseguente
• conseguentemente

Related words

• conseguire
• conseguenza
• seguire
• Latin consequens

Usage notes

Per conseguente “consequently” is archaic.^[5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli