Where does “consist” come from?
Consist comes from Middle French consister, from Latin consisto, a compound of con- and sistere meaning "to stand together" or "to be composed of."
consist (English): To be; To exist; To be comprised or contained
Definitions
- To be; To exist; To be comprised or contained
Ancestry of “consist”, step by step
consist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French consister
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | consister | — |
| 2 | Latin | consisto | I stop, stand, halt; I pause, linger; I harden |
| 3 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 4 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 5 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 6 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 10 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 11 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 12 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 13 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 14 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Latin consistō
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | consistō | to stop, stand, halt |
| 2 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 3 | Latin | -dō | to put |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -dô | — |
| 5 | Sicilian | di | Used to indicate possession, after the thing owned and before the owner; of; ’s |
| 6 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 7 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 8 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |