Meanings
consist1
present singular third person consists · participle present consisting · participle past consisted · past consisted
- copulativeobsoleteTo be.
District number twenty-five (25) shall consist the counties of Tompkins, Seneca and Yates.
1846, District School Journal for the State of New-York - Volume 7, page 1831 more example
Why doe they cover with so many lets, one over another, those parts where chiefly consisteth [translating loge] our pleasure and theirs?
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 15, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC - archaicintransitiveTo exist or be compatible.
All things do not consist by Christ today, and all the way back to Adam all things have not consisted by Christ.
2010, Michael O'Buck, Eternal Life: A Question of Honor, →ISBN2 more examples
[Homer] allows their characters such estimable qualities as could consist, and in truth generally do, with tender frailties.
1715–1720, Homer, “Book VI”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, section footnoteFirst, because it is granted by all divines, that hypothetical necessity, or necessity upon a supposition, may consist with liberty.
1841, “The” Questions Concerning Liberty, Necessity and Chance
consist2
plural consists
- rail transportA lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.
The train's consist included a baggage car, four passenger cars, and a diner.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
consist · verb
- Latinconsistō“stand together, stop, become hard or solid, agree with, continue, exist”
- Middle Frenchconsister
- Englishconsist
From Middle French consister, from Latin consistō (“stand together, stop, become hard or solid, agree with, continue, exist”), from com- (“together”) + sistō (“to cause to stand, stand”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَكَوَّنَ, تَأَلَّفَ
- تَكَوَّنَ (takawwana)to be composed (of)
- تَأَلَّفَ (taʔallafa)to be composed (of)
Bulgarian състоя́ се, съста́вен съм
- състоя́ се (săstojá se)to be composed (of)
- съста́вен съм (săstáven săm)to be composed (of)
Catalan consistir
- consistirto be composed (of)
Chinese Mandarin 由 ...) 組成 /组成, 由 ...) 構成 /构成
- 由 ...) 組成 /组成 (yóu)to be composed (of)
- 由 ...) 構成 /构成 (yóu)to be composed (of)
- 編組 /编组 (biānzǔ)sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Czech skládat se, souprava
- skládat seto be composed (of)
- soupravasequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Danish bestå
- beståto be composed (of)
Dutch bestaan uit, samenstelling
- bestaan uitto be composed (of)
- samenstellingsequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Esperanto konsisti, ampleksi
- konsistito be composed (of)
- ampleksito be composed (of)
Finnish koostua
- koostuato be composed (of)
French consister (of: de), de)
- consister (of: de)to be composed (of)
- de)to be composed (of)
- ramesequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
German aus) bestehen, Verband
- aus) bestehento be composed (of)
- Verbandsequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Greek αποτελούμαι, συνίσταμαι
- αποτελούμαι (apoteloúmai)to be composed (of)
- συνίσταμαι (synístamai)to be composed (of)
Icelandic samanstanda (af)
- samanstanda (af)to be composed (of)
Italian consistere, comporsi
- consistereto be composed (of)
- comporsito be composed (of)
- configurarsito be composed (of)
- composizionesequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
- configurazionesequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
- formazionesequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Japanese ...から) 成り立つ, ...から) 成る
- ...から) 成り立つ (...kara)to be composed (of)
- ...から) 成る (...kara)to be composed (of)
- 編成 (hensei)sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Korean ...되어 있다, ...으로/로 구성되다
- ...되어 있다 (...doeeo itda)to be composed (of)
- ...으로/로 구성되다 (...euro/ro guseongdoeda)to be composed (of)
Latin cōnstō
- cōnstōto be composed (of)
Norwegian Bokmål bestå
- beståto be composed (of)
Polish składać się z, złożyć się z
- składać się zto be composed (of)
- złożyć się zto be composed (of)
- składsequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Portuguese consistir, composição
- consistirto be composed (of)
- composiçãosequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Romanian consta, consista
- constato be composed (of)
- consistato be composed (of)
Russian скла́дываться, соста́в
- скла́дываться (skládyvatʹsja)to be composed (of)
- соста́в (sostáv)sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Slovak skladať sa
- skladať sato be composed (of)
Spanish consistir, formación
- consistirto be composed (of)
- formaciónsequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Swedish vara (av), bestå (av)
- vara (av)to be composed (of)
- bestå (av)to be composed (of)
Ukrainian склада́тися
- склада́тися (skladátysja)to be composed (of)
Vietnamese đoàn xe ray
- đoàn xe raysequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit
Welsh cynnwys
- cynnwysto be composed (of)
Yiddish באַשטיין
- באַשטיין (bashteyn)to be composed (of)
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with consist
Cite this entry
consist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/consist
“consist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/consist. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “consist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/consist.
Source: consist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.