Borrowed fromMiddle French, ultimately fromLatincōnsors. As “companion or partner”, viaMiddle Englishconsorte.
consort (countable anduncountable,pluralconsorts)
- Thespouse of amonarch.
1862 January, [William Makepeace Thackeray], “Roundabout Papers.—No. XVIII. On Letts’s Diary.”, inThe Cornhill Magazine, volume V, number25, London:Smith, Elder and Co., […],page128:Wise, just, moderate, admirably pure of life, the friend of science, of freedom, of peace and all peaceful arts, theConsort of the Queen passes from our troubled sphere to that serene one where justice and peace reign eternal.
- Ahusband,wife,companion orpartner.
1839,Charles Darwin, chapter XII, inNarrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s ShipsAdventure andBeagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, […], volume III, London:Henry Colburn, […],→OCLC,page257:In the deep and retired channels of Tierra del Fuego, the snow-white gander, invariably accompanied by his darkerconsort, and standing close by each other on some distant rocky point, is a common feature in the landscape.
- (euphemistic, sometimes humorous) Aninformal, usually well-publicizedsexual companion of a monarch,aristocrat,celebrity, etc.
1717,John Dryden, “Book X. [The Story of Pygmalion, and the Statue.]”, inOvid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […],→OCLC,page343:Pygmalion loathing their laſcivious Life, / Abhorr’d all Womankind, but moſt a Wife: / So ſingle choſe to live, and ſhunn’d to wed, / Well pleas’d to want aConſort of his Bed.
- Ashipaccompanying another.
- (uncountable)Association orpartnership.
1687,Francis Atterbury,An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit ofMartin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater,→OCLC,page22:That which gives diſtaſt to the Ear in it is aGerman by-word: and ſuch kind of thingsLr. according to the humor of thoſe times, purſues with ſome fondneſs: take it ſingly, and it carries an air of levity, I confeſs; but, inconſort with the reſt, you ſee, has a meaning quite different from what this Author would inſinuate.
- Agroup orcompany, especially ofmusicians playing the same type ofinstrument.
1590,Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, inThe Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] forWilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC, stanza 22,page277:On thother ſide in oneconſort there ſate, / Cruell Reuenge, and rancorous Deſpight, / Diſloyall Treaſon, and hart-burning Hate,[…]
- (obsolete) Harmony of sounds; concert, as of musical instruments.
1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e.,Edmund Spenser], “Astrophel. A Pastoral Elegie vpon the Death of the Most Noble and Valorous Knight,Sir Philip Sidney.”, inColin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] forWilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC,signature H2, verso:Sith then, it ſeemeth each thing to his powre / Doth vs inuite to make a ſadconſort; / Come let vs ioyne our mournfull ſong with theirs.
1646 (indicated as1645),John Milton, “At a Solemn Musick”, inPoems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth forHumphrey Mosely, […],→OCLC,page23:O may we ſoon again renew that Song, / And keep in tune with Heav’n, till God ere long / To his celeſtialconſort us unite, / To live with him, and ſing in endles morn of light.
husband, wife, companion or partner
ship accompanying another
association or partnership
group or company, especially of musicians playing the same type of instrument
consort (notcomparable)
- (postpositive) of a title, by virtue of one's (living) spouse; often contrasted withregnant anddowager
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother took on nearly as many duties as queen dowager, after her husband's death, as she had had when she was queenconsort during his reign.
consort (third-person singular simple presentconsorts,present participleconsorting,simple past and past participleconsorted)
- (intransitive) Toassociate orkeepcompany (with).
- 1610,Alexander Cooke,Pope Joane, inWilliam Oldys, editor,The Harleian Miscellany: or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as well in Manuscript as in Print, Found in the Late Earl of Oxford's Library: Interspersed with Historical, Political, and Critical Notes: With a Table of the Contents, and an Alphabetical Index, volume IV, London: Printed forT[homas] Osborne, inGray's-Inn, 1744,OCLC5325177; republished as John Maltham, editor,The Harleian Miscellany; or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as well in Manuscript as in Print, Found in the Late Earl of Oxford's Library, Interspersed with Historical, Political, and Critical Notes, volume IV, London: Printed for R. Dutton, 1808–1811,OCLC30776079, page 95:
- If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot awaywith worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, heconsorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogether given to pleasures; and then both hee, and they, live, not like Christians, but like epicures; drinking, eating, feasting, and revelling, till the cow come home, as the saying is.
1851 November 14,Herman Melville, “A Bosom Friend”, inMoby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.:Harper & Brothers; London:Richard Bentley,→OCLC,page55:I had noticed also that Queequeg neverconsorted at all, or but very little, with the other seamen in the inn.
1961, J. A. Philip, “Mimesis in theSophistês of Plato,”, inTransactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, volume92, page457:Being itself inferior andconsorting with an inferior faculty it begets inferior offspring.
- (intransitive) To be inagreement.
associate or keep company
associate or unite in company with
Borrowed fromLatincōnsors.
consort m orfby sense (pluralconsorts)
- partner,consort
- (law)spouse
- Synonym:cònjuge
- (law)accomplice
- Synonym:partícip
- (law)joinder
- Synonym:litisconsort
Borrowed fromLatincōnsortem.
consort f (pluralconsorts)
- consort
- (plural only, preceded byet, slightly derogatory)minions,associates; thelikes
Facebook, Myspaceet consorts.- Facebook, Myspaceand the likes.
Borrowed fromFrenchconsort, fromLatinconsors.
consort m (pluralconsorți)
- consort
