CONSIST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Consist

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/kənsˈɪst/ Listen

verb

Consist v. i. (past & past part. consisted; pres. part. consisting)

1.

To stand firm; to be in a fixed or permanent state, as a body composed of parts in union or connection; to hold together; to be; to exist; to subsist; to be supported and maintained. "He is before all things, and by him all things consist."

2.

To be composed or made up; followed by of. "The land would consist of plains and valleys."

3.

To have as its substance or character, or as its foundation; to be; followed by in. "If their purgation did consist in words." "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

4.

To be consistent or harmonious; to be in accordance; formerly used absolutely, now followed by with. "This was a consisting story." "Health consists with temperance alone." "For orders and degrees Jar not with liberty, but well consist."

5.

To insist; followed by on. (Obs.)

Synonyms: To Consist, Consist of, Consist in. The verb consist is employed chiefly for two purposes, which are marked and distinguished by the prepositions used. When we wish to indicate the parts which unite to compose a thing, we use of; as when we say, "Macaulay's Miscellanies consist chiefly of articles which were first published in the Edinburgh Review." When we wish to indicate the true nature of a thing, or that on which it depends, we use in; as, "There are some artists whose skill consists in a certain manner which they have affected." "Our safety consists in a strict adherence to duty."

See images of 'Consist'

Etymology of 'Consist'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Consist" Quotes from Famous Books

... and answer Innstetten examined more closely than before the little package tied up with a red cord. It seemed to consist of a number of notes, rather than letters. Bending it between his thumb and forefinger, like a pack of cards, he slowly let the edges slip off one at a time, and a few lines, in reality only disconnected words, darted past his ...

— The German Classics Of The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 • Various

... said, "have not learned to be ashamed of that ancient combination of the Bible and the sword. Let it be enough for us to pray and hope that the contest, whenever it may be brought to an end, shall bring with it that great blessing to the white race which shall consist in the ...

— Great Britain and the American Civil War • Ephraim Douglass Adams

... a thing altogether unknown to the old classic ages. This has been defined to consist in a certain obsequiousness, or deferential respect, paid ...

— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Volume 2 • Charles Lamb

... particular. The Woodcutter with his son and his donkey are working in the forest, one evening, when a man asks them for directions to get out of the forest. They offer him a bed for the night, so he comes to their home, where he produces his wares, which consist of Bibles, and he explains them to the ...

— The Woodcutter of Gutech • W.H.G. Kingston

... the northern Cook Islands are seven low-lying, sparsely populated, coral atolls; the southern Cook Islands, where most of the population lives, consist of eight elevated, fertile, volcanic isles, including the largest, Rarotonga, at ...

— The 2007 CIA World Factbook • United States

Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com