consume English · revision 15212

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1382|origins=ine-pro *h₁em-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kənˈsum/; /kənˈsjuːm/, /kənˈʃuːm/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|consumen]], [[bor|fro|consumer]] and directly [[la|cōnsūmō|t=to take up completely, use up, eat, waste]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|com-]] (here an intensive) and [[m|la|sūmō|t=to take up]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|sub-|t=under, up]] and [[m|la|emō|t=to buy, take]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*h₁em-|t=to take, distribute]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make away with, use up destructively: 1382 in the OED, about 1380 in Barnhart (Chaucer's ''Boece''), the late 14th century in Etymonline, where it meant to destroy by burning or eating.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Destroying by use, wearing out, is from about 1400,^(Etymonline) and spending money or goods wastefully from 1460.^(OED 1989) Eating or drinking food is from 1587.^(OED 1989) To engage someone's whole attention and energy, as in ''consumed with jealousy'', is from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) The economic sense, to buy goods and services for use, is in the AHD,^(AHD) and watching or reading broadcast or published information is in Collins.^(Collins 2023) Consumer is from about 1425, one who consumes or destroys.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – to use up destructively.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1425 – consumer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1460 – to squander.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570s – to engross.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1587 – to eat or drink.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To eat or drink.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To use up; to [[expend]]: ''my car consumes little oil''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To destroy completely, as by fire.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To absorb or [[engross]], often in the passive: ''consumed with envy''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To buy goods and services for one's own use.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[consumable]]

+ * [[overconsume]]

+ * [[preconsume]]

+ * [[unconsumable]]

+ * [[underconsume]]

+ * [[consumer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[consumption]]

+ * [[consumptive]]

+ * [[assume]]

+ * [[presume]]

+ * [[resume]]

+ * [[redeem]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Worcestershire and Suffolk, ''consume'' was used in angry curses, as in ''consume his old body''.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}