consummate

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English

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WOTD – 30 September 2008

Etymology

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From Latin cōnsummātus, past participle of cōnsummāre (“to sum up, finish, complete”), from com- (“together”) + summa (“the sum”) (see sum, summation).

Pronunciation

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Adjective
  • (UK) enPR: kŏn'səmət, kŏn'syo͝omət, kənsŭm'ĭt, IPA(key): /ˈkɒnsəmət/, /ˈkɒnsjʊmət/, /kənˈsʌmɪt/
  • (US) enPR: kŏn'səmət, kənsŭm'ĭt, IPA(key): /ˈkɑnsəmət/, /kənˈsʌmɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
Verb

Adjective

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consummate (comparative more consummate, superlative most consummate)

  1. Complete in every detail, perfect, absolute.
    Synonyms: absolute, complete, perfect, sheer, total, utter; see also Thesaurus:total
  2. Supremely skilled and experienced; highly accomplished; fully qualified.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled
    a consummate sergeant
    • 1843, [John Ruskin], “Preface to the second edition”, in Modern Painters […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page xxxii:
      Thus […] he loses sight of the remoter truth, that details perfect in unity, and, contributing to a final purpose, are the sign of the production of a consummate master.
    • 1900, John Comfort Filmore, Pianoforte Music: Its history, with Biographical Sketches and Critical Estimates of its Greatest Masters‎[2], Presser, page 17:
      Many of these works are of permanent value from their nobility and beauty of style and their intrinsic emotional significance, and all are characterized by high intellectual qualities, and consummate musicianship.
    • 1910, Lionel Giles (translator), The Art of War, Section IV (originally by Sun Tzu)
      The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, […]  ; thus it is in his power to control success.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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consummate (third-person singular simple present consummates, present participle consummating, simple past and past participle consummated)

  1. (transitive) To bring (a task, project, goal etc.) to completion; to accomplish.
    Synonyms: complete, finish, round off; see also Thesaurus:end
    • 1921, James Truslow Adams, The Founding of New England, chapter III:
      Although it was agreed by all that discovery must be consummated by possession and use, […]
    • 1926, chapter X, in Against the Grain, translation of À rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans:
      In one word, in perfumery the artist completes and consummates the original natural odour, which he cuts, so to speak, and mounts as a jeweller improves and brings out the water of a precious stone.
  2. (transitive) To make perfect, achieve, give the finishing touch.
    Synonyms: complete, perfect, top off
  3. (transitive) To make (a marriage) complete by engaging in first sexual intercourse.
    the marriage was never consummated
    After the reception, he escorted her to the honeymoon suite to consummate their marriage.
    • 1890, Giovanni Boccaccio, “part 10”, in James MacMullen Rigg, transl., The Decameron, volume 2:
      […] in the essay which he made the very first night to serve her so as to consummate the marriage he made a false move, […]
    • 1913, Augustinus Lehmkuhl, Walter George Smith, “Divorce”, in Catholic Encyclopedia:
      In Christian marriage, which implies the restoration, by Christ Himself, of marriage to its original indissolubility, there can never be an absolute divorce, at least after the marriage has been consummated;
    • 2000, Matthew H. Sommer, “Widows in the Qing Chastity Cult: The Nexus of Sex and Property in Law and in Women's Lives”, in Sex, Law, and Society in Late Imperial China‎[3], Stanford, Cali.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 187:
      In a 1739 case from Laifeng County, Hubei, the widow Zhang Shi (forty-five sui) was killed by her new second husband, Jiang Changyi (forty-three sui), when she refused to consummate her marriage with him.
  4. (intransitive) To become perfected, receive the finishing touch.
    Synonyms: come to a head, mature, ripe

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further reading

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Latin

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Verb

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cōnsummāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of cōnsummō
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