Consort Meaning
/ˈkɒnsɔːt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe spouse of a monarch.
nounA husband, wife, companion or partner.
Sentence Examples
Taweret was sometimes depicted as Set's consort.
If she's serious, why does she consort with fascists?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The prince attended the gala with his elegant ____ by his side.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Queen's royal ____ always stands quietly beside her during important international state ceremonies.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French, ultimately from Latin cōnsors. As “companion or partner”, via Middle English consorte.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Wise, just, moderate, admirably pure of life, the friend of science, of freedom, of peace and all peaceful arts, the Consort of the Queen passes from our troubled sphere to that serene one where justice and peace reign eternal."
— 1862 January, [William Makepeace Thackeray], “Roundabout Papers.—No. XVIII. On Letts’s Diary.”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume V, number 25, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], page 128:
"In his death was lost to his consort an affectionate and beloved husband; […]"
— 1814, Timothy Alden, “New Canaan, Con[necticut]”, in A Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions with Occasional Notes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: J. Seymour, […], →OCLC, page 35:
"In the deep and retired channels of Tierra del Fuego, the snow-white gander, invariably accompanied by his darker consort, and standing close by each other on some distant rocky point, is a common feature in the landscape."
— 1839, Charles Darwin, chapter XII, in Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 257:
"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 a Conſort of his Bed."
— 1717, John Dryden, “Book X. [The Story of Pygmalion, and the Statue.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 343:
"That which gives diſtaſt to the Ear in it is a German by-word: and ſuch kind of things Lʳ. according to the humor of thoſe times, purſues with ſome fondneſs: take it ſingly, and it carries an air of levity, I confeſs; but, in conſort with the reſt, you ſee, has a meaning quite different from what this Author would inſinuate."
— 1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater, →OCLC, page 22:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The prince attended the gala with his elegant ____ by his side.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The Queen's royal ____ always stands quietly beside her during important international state ceremonies.