Console

How to spell console

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce console

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does console mean?

1. nounA panel, cabinet, or unit housing controls, instruments, or a screen.
2. verbTo comfort someone who is sad, disappointed, or grieving.

Console in a sentence

• verb

  She tried to console her friend after the disappointing news.

• noun

  He plugged the controller into the games console before dinner.

• verb

  Nothing the manager said could console the losing team.

• noun

  The pilot scanned the lights on the cockpit console.

Where does console come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The verb console arrived in English in the early 1600s from the French consoler, which itself descends from the Latin consolari, meaning 'to comfort' or 'to soothe in grief'. That Latin verb joins the intensive prefix con- to solari, 'to comfort', so the literal sense was to bring relief to someone who is troubled. The noun console developed along a separate and more architectural path: it came from French as the name for an ornamental bracket that supported a shelf or cornice, possibly shortened from consolateur, and the idea was that the bracket 'comforts' or props up the weight above it. From a bracket holding a shelf, the noun broadened to mean a cabinet or stand, then the desk-like frame holding the keys of an organ, and finally any panel of controls, including the modern gaming console. The two readings share one spelling but split in stress and meaning, which is the main thing to remember.

How the word is built

• con- (with, together)
• sol (from solari, to comfort)
• -e