Consolidation

How to spell consolidation

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce consolidation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does consolidation mean?

1. nounThe act of combining several things into a single, stronger, or more effective whole.
2. nounThe combining of several debts or loans into a single payment, often at a lower interest rate.

Consolidation in a sentence

• The merger led to the consolidation of three regional offices into one headquarters.

• She took out a single loan for the consolidation of her credit card balances.

• After months of growth, the team focused on the consolidation of its market position.

• Debt consolidation can lower monthly repayments by replacing many loans with one.

Where does consolidation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb consolidare, which meant 'to make firm' or 'to combine into one solid mass', formed from con- 'together' and solidus 'solid, firm, whole'. The same solidus also gave English the everyday words 'solid' and 'solder', and it even lies behind 'soldier', whose pay was once a solid coin. Latin produced the noun consolidatio for the act of making something firm, and English took the word in through French around the early seventeenth century, at first in legal and physical senses of strengthening or merging. Over time it broadened to cover any act of joining several things into a single, stronger whole, from companies to debts. The spelling stays remarkably faithful to its root: keep the single 'l' and the 'sol' of 'solid' in mind, and the trap of doubling letters disappears.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• solid (firm, whole)
• -ate (verb suffix)
• -ion (noun of action)