Counselor

How to spell counselor

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce counselor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does counselor mean?

1. nounA person trained to give guidance or support on personal, educational, or emotional matters.
2. nounIn American usage, a lawyer who advises clients and represents them in court.

Counselor in a sentence

• The school assigned a counselor to help students choose their courses.

• The judge invited the counselor to approach the bench.

• She saw a grief counselor for several months after the loss.

• The defendant met with his counselor before the trial began.

Where does counselor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin noun consilium, meaning 'consultation, deliberation, or advice', which itself grew from the verb consulere, 'to take counsel or consult'. From this came the Old French conseil for 'advice' and conseillier for 'one who advises', and English borrowed both during the medieval period. The base noun 'counsel' settled into English by the 1300s, and the agent noun for the person giving counsel followed naturally with the Latin-style ending. American usage simplified the doubled consonant, so the standard United States spelling keeps a single l, 'counselor', while British and Canadian writers retain the doubled form 'counsellor'. It is worth noting that the same consulere root sits inside 'consult' and 'consultant', which is a useful reminder that a counselor is essentially someone you consult. Over time the word broadened from a court adviser to cover therapists, camp leaders, and, in American courts, practising lawyers.

How the word is built

• counsel (advice, deliberation)
• -or (agent suffix: one who does)

British and American spelling

Counselor is the American spelling. British English spells it counsellor.

Words that sound like counselor

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• councillor: An elected member of a local government council.