consist

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French consister, from Latin consistō (“stand together, stop, become hard or solid, agree with, continue, exist”), from com- (“together”) + sistō (“I cause to stand, stand”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: kənsĭst', IPA^(key): /kənˈsɪst/

• Audio (US); “consist” (verb):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪst

Verb

consist (third-person singular simple present consists, present participle consisting, simple past and past participle consisted)

1. (obsolete, copulative) To be.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 15, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     Why doe they cover with so many lets, one over another, those parts where chiefly consisteth [translating loge] our pleasure and theirs?

   • 1846, District School Journal for the State of New-York - Volume 7, page 183:

     District number twenty-five (25) shall consist the counties of Tompkins, Seneca and Yates.

2. (archaic, intransitive) To exist or be compatible.
   • 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book VI”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, footnote:

     [Homer] allows their characters such estimable qualities as could consist, and in truth generally do, with tender frailties.

   • 1841, “The” Questions Concerning Liberty, Necessity and Chance:

     First, because it is granted by all divines, that hypothetical necessity, or necessity upon a supposition, may consist with liberty.

   • 2010, Michael O'Buck, Eternal Life: A Question of Honor, →ISBN:

     All things do not consist by Christ today, and all the way back to Adam all things have not consisted by Christ.

Usage notes

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Synonyms

• (to be, to exist): See also Thesaurus:exist

Derived terms

• consist in
• consist of
• inconsisting

Related terms

• consistence
• consistency
• consistent
• consistory

Translations

to be composed (of)

Arabic: تَكَوَّنَ (takawwana) (of: مِن (min)), تَأَلَّفَ (taʔallafa) Azerbaijani: ibarət olmaq Belarusian: склада́цца impf (skladácca) Bulgarian: състоя́ се impf (sǎstojá se), съста́вен съм impf (sǎstáven sǎm) Catalan: consistir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: (of: 由 (yóu) ...) 組成 / 组成 (zh) (zǔchéng), (of: 由 (yóu) ...) 構成 / 构成 (zh) (gòuchéng) Czech: skládat se (cs) impf Danish: bestå (da) Dutch: bestaan uit (nl) Esperanto: konsisti, ampleksi Finnish: koostua (fi) (+ elative) French: consister (fr) (of: de), se composer (fr) (of: de) Galician: consistir (gl) German: (of: aus) bestehen (de) Greek: αποτελούμαι (el) (apoteloúmai), συνίσταμαι (el) (synístamai) Icelandic: samanstanda (af (is)) Italian: consistere (it) (of: di), comporsi, configurarsi Japanese: (of: ...から (...kara)) 成り立つ (ja) (なりたつ, naritatsu), (of: ...から (...kara)) 成る (ja) (なる, naru) Korean: ...되어 있다 (...doeeo itda), ...으로/로 구성되다 (...euro/ro guseongdoeda) Latin: cōnstō (la) Macedonian: се состои impf (se sostoi) Norwegian: Bokmål: bestå (no) Polish: składać się z impf, złożyć się z pf Portuguese: consistir (pt) Romanian: consta (ro), consista (ro) Russian: состоя́ть (ru) impf (sostojátʹ) (of: из (ru) (iz) (+ genitive case)), скла́дываться (ru) impf (skládyvatʹsja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: са́стојати се impf Roman: sástojati se (sh) impf Slovak: skladať sa impf Slovene: biti sestavljen impf Spanish: consistir (es) Swedish: vara (sv) (av (sv)), bestå (sv) (av (sv)) Ukrainian: склада́тися impf (skladátysja) Volapük: binädön (vo) Welsh: cynnwys (cy) Yiddish: באַשטיין (bashteyn) (of: פֿון)

Etymology 2

From consist (verb).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.sɪst/

• Audio (US); “consist” (noun):

  (file)

Noun

consist (plural consists)

1. (rail transport) A lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.

   The train's consist included a baggage car, four passenger cars, and a diner.

Synonyms

• (rail transport): rake, (UK) formation

Translations

sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit

Chinese: Mandarin: 編組 / 编组 (zh) (biānzǔ) Czech: souprava (cs) f Dutch: samenstelling (nl) f French: rame (fr) f German: Verband (de) m Italian: composizione (it) f, configurazione (it) f, formazione (it) f Japanese: 編成 (ja) (へんせい, hensei) Polish: skład (pl) m Portuguese: composição (pt) f Russian: соста́в (ru) m (sostáv) Spanish: formación (es) f Vietnamese: đoàn xe ray

Further reading

• “consist”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “consist”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “consist”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Costins, tocsins