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consilior

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word consilior

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin cōnsilium
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin consilium
French conseil
Italian consiglio
Latin consilior
From the same root
Latin consiliarius ← consilium
Latin consiliator ← consilior

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kõːˈsɪ.li.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈsiː.li.or][1]

Forms

cōnsilior (present infinitive cōnsiliārī, perfect active cōnsiliātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnsilium (“counsel, deliberation”), a deponent verb formed on the noun.[2][3][1] De Vaan derives cōnsilium from cōnsul, which belongs with cōnsulō (“to deliberate, consult”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Caesar and Cicero.[3][2] Caesar has cōnsiliandī causā colloquī, “to confer in order to take counsel”, and Cicero's letters to Atticus speak of a mission about which it is hard to take counsel.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it rare but classical.[3] Besides “deliberate” it meant to give advice, with the dative: Horace asks the chorus of a play to favour the good and advise them as a friend.[2][3] Livy's epitomes and Tacitus also use it.[3] The TLL notes that manuscripts and editions often confuse it with conciliō.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it also means to plan, meditate or work something out.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in his letters to Atticus.[2][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of conferring to take counsel.[3][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of giving advice.[2][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Histories.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to take counsel, deliberate.[2][3]
  2. (with dative) to give advice to, counsel.[2][1]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) to plan, meditate.[6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Consilior.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/consilior. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·