Standard Lemma guide

consul

noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: kŏnʹsəl
  • UK: /ˈkɒn.səl/
  • General-American: kŏnʹsəl
  • General-American: /ˈkɑn.səl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒnsəl
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 N S AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Either of the two heads of government and state of the Roman Republic or the equivalent nominal post under the Roman and Byzantine Empires.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of the three heads of government and state of France between 1799 and 1804.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A count or earl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A councillor

A member of early modern city councils in southern France and Catalonia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A councillor

An officer of the trading and merchant companies of early modern England.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A councillor

An official in various early modern port and trading towns, elected by resident foreign merchants to settle disputes among themselves and to represent them to the local authorities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

An official residing in major foreign towns to represent and protect the interests of the merchants and citizens of their country.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A high government official, generally either a coruler himself or a counsellor directly under the ruler.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a diplomat appointed by a government to protect its commercial interests and help its citizens in a foreign country

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: diplomat, diplomatist

History

Etymology

From Middle English consul, from Old English consul, from Latin cōnsul.

Across languages

Translations

110 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: konsull — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Arabic: قُنْصُل (qunṣul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Armenian: հյուպատոս (hyupatos) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Azerbaijani: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Belarusian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Belarusian: ко́нсулка (kónsulka) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Bengali: দূত (dut) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Bulgarian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Bulgarian: ко́нсулка (kónsulka) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Burmese: ကောင်စစ်ဝန် (kaungcac-wan) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Chinese Cantonese: 領事 /领事 — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Chinese: линсы (linsɨ) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Chinese: кунсур (kunsur) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Chinese: 領事 /领事 (léng-sīr / léng-sū) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Chinese Mandarin: 領事 /领事 (lǐngshì) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Crimean Tatar: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Czech: konzul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Czech: konzulka — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Danish: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Dutch: consul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Esperanto: konsulo — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Estonian: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Finnish: konsuli — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • French: consul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • French: consule — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Galician: cónsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Georgian: კონსული (ḳonsuli) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • German: Konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • German: Konsulin — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Greek: πρόξενος (próxenos) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hebrew: קוֹנְסוּל (kónsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hebrew: קונסולית (konsulit) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hindi: कौंसल (kaunsal) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hindi: क़ोंसल (qonsal) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hindi: क़ौंसल (qaunsal) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hindi: वाणिज्य दूत (vāṇijya dūt) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Hungarian: konzul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Icelandic: konsúll — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Icelandic: ræðismaður — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Ido: konsulo — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Indonesian: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Irish: consal — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Italian: console — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Japanese: 領事 (ryōji) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Kazakh: консул (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Khmer: កុងស៊ុល (kongsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Korean: 영사 (yeongsa) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Korean: 령사 (ryeongsa) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Kyrgyz: консул (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Lao: ກົງສຸນ (kong sun) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Latvian: konsuls — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Lithuanian: konsulas — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Macedonian: конзул (konzul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Macedonian: конзулка (konzulka) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Malay: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Mongolian: консул (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Norwegian Bokmål: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Pashto: قونسل (qonsol) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Pashto: کونسل (kwənsol) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Iranian Persian: کُنْسول (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Iranian Persian: قُنْسول (ġonsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Polish: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Portuguese: cônsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Romanian: consul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Russian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Serbo-Croatian: ко̑нзул — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Serbo-Croatian: kȏnzul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Slovak: konzul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Slovak: konzulka — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Slovene: kónzul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Slovene: kónzulka — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Lower Sorbian: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Upper Sorbian: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Spanish: cónsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Swedish: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Tajik: консул (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Thai: กงสุล (gong-sǔn) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Turkish: konsolos — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Turkmen: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Ukrainian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Ukrainian: ко́нсулка (kónsulka) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Urdu: قَونْصَل (qaunsal) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Uyghur: كونسۇل (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Uzbek: konsul — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Vietnamese: lãnh sự — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Yiddish: קאָנסול (konsul) — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Zhuang: lingjsw — official who protects the interests of citizens
  • Arabic: قُنْصُل (qunṣul) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Belarusian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Bulgarian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Chinese Mandarin: 執政官 /执政官 (zhízhèngguān) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Czech: konzul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Danish: konsul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Ancient Greek: ὕπατος (húpatos) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Icelandic: ræðismaður — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Italian: console — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Latin: cōnsul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Middle English: consul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Old English: consul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Old English: ġēarcyning — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Polish: konsul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Portuguese: cônsul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Romanian: consul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Russian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Scots: consul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Slovak: konzul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Slovene: kónzul — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Ukrainian: ко́нсул (kónsul) — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Vietnamese: quan chấp chính — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
  • Vietnamese: chấp chính quan — either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman republic
Real reading context

consul in complete knowledge articles