consistent en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti Proto-Italic *sistō Latin sistō Latin cōnsistō Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -ens Latin consistensbor. English consistent Borrowed from Latin cōnsistēntem, present participle of cōnsistō (“to agree with; to continue”), from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”)) + sistō (“to cause to stand; to place, set”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti (“to be standing up; to be getting up”), from the root *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)). By surface analysis, consist + -ent.
Meanings
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Of a regularly occurring, dependable nature.
When a philosopher adopted fully the Nominalist view of the signification of general language, retaining along with it the dictum de omni as the foundation of all reasoning, two such premisses fairly put together were likely, if he was a consistent thinker, to land him in rather startling conclusions.
1843, John Stuart Mill, “Of Ratiocination, or Syllogism”, in A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, § 2, page 237:That author [Mr. Boyle] has a particular Eſſay of the Atmoſphere of Conſiſtent Bodies; wherein he ſhews, that all, even ſolid, hard, ponderous, and fix'd Bodies, do exhale or emit Effluvia to a certain space all around 'em.
1728, E[phraim] Chambers, “Consistent Bodies”, in Cyclopædia: Or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […] In Two Volumes, volumes I (A–H), London: […] James and John Knapton [et al.], →OCLC, page 309, column 2:The consistent use of Chinglish in China can be very annoying, apart from some initial amusement.
He is very consistent in his political choices: economy good or bad, he always votes Labour!
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Compatible, accordant.
When I do myself the honour of speaking to you next on the subject, I shall hope to receive a more favourable answer than you have now given me; though I am far from accusing you of cruelty at present, because I know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application, and perhaps you have even now said as much to encourage my suit as would be consistent with the true delicacy of the female character.
1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XIX, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 251:Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that "nudges" our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.
2012 January, Steven Sloman, “The Battle between Intuition and Deliberation [review of Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011) by Daniel Kahneman]”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2012, page 74:Rail Minister Lord Hendy was quizzed by the same MPs at an earlier hearing. He maintained that the Bill gave Mayors "much enhanced power" and preserved the existing processes by which rail services can be devolved. "The intention, more widely, is to work collaboratively with all devolved leaders to meet local needs," he said. "It has to be tempered by the reality, which is that the railway network is not generally consistent with mayoral boundaries. […]".
2026 March 18, Peter Plisner, “Will devolution deliver real local control?”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 47:As I had once done thus in my breaking away from my Parents, ſo I could not be content now, but I muſt go and leave the happy View I had of being a rich and thriving Man in my new Plantation, only to purſue a raſh and immoderate Deſire of riſing faſter than the Nature of the Thing admitted; and thus I caſt my ſelf down again into the deepeſt Gulph of human Miſery that ever Man fell into, or perhaps could be conſiſtent with Life and a State Health of in the World.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 43:
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Of a set of statements: such that no contradiction logically follows from them.
When we ask whether ideas or terms are consistent or inconsistent with each other, the question really is, in what manner the relation presupposed between the ideas qualifies them for being combined as terms of a judgment.
1857, William Spalding, “Introduction”, in An Introduction to Logical Science: Being a Reprint of the Article “Logic” from the Eighth Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, chapter II (The Function and Axioms of Logical Science), paragraph 12(2), pages 22–23:Part of establishing a foundation for geometry was demonstrating that the axioms were consistent – that they could never lead to contradictions.
2008, Charles Petzold, “Centuries of Progress”, in The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour through Alan Turing’s Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine, Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 39:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most consistent | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more consistent | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
inconsistent · incompatible · contradictory
Deriveds
consistently · paraconsistent · sparsistent · photoconsistent · unconsistent · self-consistent · consistify · equiconsistent · nonconsistent · selfconsistent · consistent life ethic
Relateds
consistency · consistence · consist · inconsistent
Synonyms
compatible · proportionate · congruent · conformable · congruous · compliant · commensurate · conformant · uniform · consistent · compliant · conformable · in line · congruent · in step
Translations (89)
fi yhdenmukainen (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · uk сумі́сний (not logically contradictory) · es consistente (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · pl konsystentny (not logically contradictory) · pl zgodny (compatible, accordant) · ca consistent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · de beharrlich (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · hy հետևողական (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · gl constante (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · nl consequent (not logically contradictory) · nl consequent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · id panggah (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · hu ellentmondásmentes (not logically contradictory) · da konsistent (not logically contradictory) · eo kohera (compatible, accordant) · et järjepidev (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · gd seasmhach (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · bg последователен (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · hy համահունչ (compatible, accordant) · de beständig (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · ca consistent (not logically contradictory) · de folgerichtig (not logically contradictory) · sv konsekvent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · bg постоянен (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · id taat asas (compatible, accordant) · fi tasainen (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · pt consistente (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · ar مُتَّسِق (compatible, accordant) · de widerspruchsfrei (not logically contradictory) · cmn 一貫的 /一贯的 (not logically contradictory) · cmn 一貫的 /一贯的 (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · ms tekal (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · bg непротиворечив (not logically contradictory) · de im Einklang stehend (compatible, accordant) · fr constant (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · ru согласо́ванный (compatible, accordant) · it continuo (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · pt consistente (not logically contradictory) · da konsistent (compatible, accordant) · de stimmig (compatible, accordant) · da konsistent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · hu következetes (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · fr cohérent (not logically contradictory) · uk послідо́вний (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · eo akorda (compatible, accordant) · sv följdriktig (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · id konsisten (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · vi thích hợp (compatible, accordant) · de konsequent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · de konsistent (not logically contradictory) · nl consistent (not logically contradictory) · pl konsekwentny (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · es consistente (compatible, accordant) · it compatibile (compatible, accordant) · pl spójny (not logically contradictory) · la congruens (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · it coerente (compatible, accordant) · ru соотве́тствующий (compatible, accordant) · it costante (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · de verlässlich (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · id konsisten (compatible, accordant) · fi ristiriidaton (not logically contradictory) · ru после́довательный (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · de zusammenhaltend (compatible, accordant) · ar مُتَّسِق (not logically contradictory) · eo konsekvenca (not logically contradictory) · bg съвместим (compatible, accordant) · he תואם toém (not logically contradictory) · de konsistent (compatible, accordant) · fi yhteensopiva (compatible, accordant) · gl consistente (not logically contradictory) · nl veel voorkomend (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · it conforme (compatible, accordant) · id konsisten (not logically contradictory) · fi yhtenäinen (compatible, accordant) · az ardıcıl (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · ru совмести́мый (not logically contradictory) · ro consecvent (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · hu konzekvens (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · cs bezesporný (not logically contradictory) · he תואם toém (compatible, accordant) · vi phù hợp (compatible, accordant) · fr conforme (compatible, accordant) · he עקבי ikví (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · cs konzistentní (not logically contradictory) · hu konzisztens (not logically contradictory) · de konstant (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature) · es consistente (not logically contradictory) · fi johdonmukainen (of a regularly occurring, dependable nature)