consist, v.
(kənˈsɪst)
[ad. L. consist-ĕre to place oneself, stand still, stop, remain firm, exist, etc., f. con- altogether + sist-ĕre to cause to stand, place, stand, stand firm, stand still, stop, etc. Cf. F. consiste-r (14th c. in Littré).]
1. intr. To have a settled existence, subsist, hold together, exist, be. Obs. (or arch., after Col. i. 17).
| 1551 R. Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (Arb.) 45 Betwene the whych two..no similitude or equalitie consisteth. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. viii. (1618) 318 Hauing such affinitie and coniunction together, that the one cannot consist without the other. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) Col. i. 17 And he is before al, and al consist in him [Wyclif ben, Tindale, Geneva have their being]. 1611 ibid. And by him all things consist [1881 Rev. V. in him all things consist, marg. That is, hold together]. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xxiv. (1660) 245 Vitall Spirits, without which the interior senses could not consist. 1691 Beverley Thous. Years Kingd. Christ 24 They so Begin, They so Consist, They so End, as to demonstrate, etc. 1710 Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. i. §146 By whom all things consist. 1858 Bushnell Nat. & Supernat. i. (1864) 31 They all consist, come together into system, in Christ. |
† b. To stand firm, abide, remain, stay, keep its place; to have its place, lie. Obs.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apophth. 243 b, Woordes of jeste consistyng within y⊇ boundes of honestee. 1556 Abp. Parker Ps. cxix. 17 Consist that I in lyfe may still, so iust thy wordes to kepe. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 483 This narrow Sea..consisteth betweene Cap di Sprat, and the Promontore of Sewty. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §3 Unstable judgments that cannot consist in the narrow point and centre of vertue without a reele or stagger to the circumference. |
† c. To hold together as a material body; to have a firm consistence. Obs.
| 1576 Baker Jewell of Health 21 a, A man cannot worke anye thynge without that it consisteth thycke. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. xiii. 136 It is..against the nature of water, being a flexible and ponderous body, so to consist and stay itself, and not fall to the lower parts about it. |
† d. To come to a stand, stop short. Obs. rare.
| 1611 Donne Ignat. Concl. (1635) 61 That things must not be extended infinitly; that wee must consist and arrest somewhere. 1625 ― Serm. 3 Apr. 26 We shall neuer knowe where to stop, where to consist. |
† 2. To exist together or alongside of each other as compatible facts, to co-exist. Obs. (exc. as passing into 3).
| 1548 R. Hutten Sum of Diuin. F 5 b, Fayeth can not consiste wyth an euell conscience. 1553 Bale Gardiner's De Vera Obed. D v b, They [sondry iurisdicciones] marre not one another: but they consist, & concurre by y⊇ mutual help of one to an other. 1656 Bramhall Replic. 24 Truth in fundamentalls and errour in superstructures may consist together. 1675 Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. i. 119 [It is] a logical impossibility that these two should consist, ‘He believeth’ and ‘he believeth not’. 1814 Southey Roderick xvi. 217 If tears and trembling limbs With such celestial natures might consist. |
† b. To be capable of existing along with, to be possible and so compatible with. arch. or Obs.
| 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 79 Health consists with temperance alone. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) p. xxii, Costiveness cannot long consist with Health. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. iii. i. xv. §8 The Spirit of Prophecy consisted with the avarice of Balaam and the disobedience of Saul. |
3. To be consistent in form, tenor, or character; to be congruous; to agree, harmonize (with). See consistent.
| 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. ii. §104 Which whether it can consist with his goodnes..I leave it to honest men to judge. 1652 Gataker Antinom. 11 [This] doth wel concur and consist with what he said in the former. 1699 Bentley Phal. 478 The New Piece is clap'd into [the Old Text]..as if they both consisted very well, and suited together. 1741 Berkeley Let. 7 June in Fraser Life, The ordinances..which we take to consist all and hang together. 1788 Lond. Mag. 257 [He] said it consisted with his certain knowledge. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India I. ii. iv. 169 A more extensive survey of the field of law, than consists with the plan of the present work. 1827 Westm. Rev. Apr. 503 The information he received perfectly consists with our friend the Serjeant's account. a 1871 Grote Eth. Fragm. iv. (1876) 104 Appetites are to be indulged only so far as consists with some definite and approved end. |
† 4. consist on or upon: to stand on, be based upon, rest upon. lit. and fig. Obs.
| c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 280 The Englishe imperie consistethe on sewer pillers. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. xxxvi. 46 Parallelogrammes consisting vpon equall bases, and in the selfe same parallel lines, are equall the one to the other. 1602 Segar Hon. Mil. & Civ. iii. liv. §3. 197 This Temple seemed to consist upon Pillars of Pourferry, arched like vnto a Church. 1660 Bond Scut. Reg. 66 A survey of the main Triangle upon which the art of Government consists. |
† b. To have its existence based upon, or depending on. Obs.
| 1588 Greene Pandosto (1607) 18 To thinke, that the common wealth consisted on his safety. 1591 F. Sparry tr. Cattan's Geomancie 162 When the Figure doth consist vppon many good figures. 1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man Guilty 345 Their fortune consisted on his fancy. |
† c. To stand or insist upon, on. Obs.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 187 Such large termes, and so absolute, As our Conditions shall consist vpon. 1608 ― Per. i. iv. 83 Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist. |
† 5. consist by: = 4 or next. Obs. rare.
| 1566–75 Painter Pal. Pleas. (1813) II. 377 By the only courage of your minde consisteth the hap or mishap of your affayres. 1656 Earl of Monmouth Adv. fr. Parnass. 329 The delight of the Vertuosi..consists wholly by extracting useful precepts from noble representations; thereby to enrich their minds. 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5130/6 We whose Livelihoods consist by Trade. |
6. consist in: to have its being in: † a. To be, exist, reside, or inhere in; to be vested, located, comprised in. Obs.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 The selfe pilgrymage, whiche consysteth or standeth in vij dayes iourney. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xxx. [xxix]. 12 In thy hande consisteth power and might. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 99 In whome doth the election of the minister or pastor consist? 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 406 In her, consists my Happinesse, and thine. 1611 Bible Luke xii. 15 A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. x. 30 The usual Moods may not here be mist, In them much cunning doth consist. 1820 Shelley Œdipus i. 145 They think their strength consists in eating beef. |
† b. To have its essence or essential character in.
| 1594 Carew tr. Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 290 The male sex consisteth in this, that the seed be hot and dry at the time of his forming. |
† c. To be, exist, or be engaged in. Obs.
| 1606 G. W[oodcocke] tr. Hist. Ivstine 38 b, He promised to discharge them of the warres and danger they consisted in. |
d. To be comprised or contained in (actions, conditions, qualities, or other things non-material); to be constituted of. Now the usual sense.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 166 For, mine advise, at that time, consisted in this point. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxx. §2 Offices and duties of religious joy..wherein the hallowing of festival times consisteth. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 589 In loving thou dost well, in passion not, Wherein true Love consists not. a 1677 Barrow in Beauties of B. (1846) 55 Recreations..consisting merely in rustic efforts, or in petty sleights of bodily strength and activity. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 36 The Sensibility of its consisting in a Conformity to our Ideas. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 48 Moral government consists..in rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 673 His administration consisted in a perpetual change of ill-concerted measures. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 45 Not every one can tell in what the beauty of a figure consists. |
e. To be embodied in; to be composed of. arch. Now usually to consist of: see 7.
| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 288 As our Commons, which consist in Freeholders. 1735 Johnson tr. Lobo's Voy. Abyssinia 264 The whole Revenue of the Emperor consists in Lands and Goods. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. xcvi. §2 Your clothing consisted in an hempen bag tied round the neck with a string. 1809 Kendall Trav. II. xlvii. 143 The timber consists almost exclusively in black pine and oak. 1845 Stephen Laws Eng. I. 168 Things real are usually said to consist in lands, tenements, and hereditaments. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 23 The fee consists in some sort of cattle. |
† f. Formerly, consist to do was = consist in doing. Obs.
| 1547–64 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) v. ii, The high vertues..consysteth not onely to suffer the passions of the body, but also to dissemble them of the soule. |
7. consist of: to be made up or composed of; to have as its constituent substance or elements. (Of was here orig. = from, out of. Consist of was formerly also used where consist in is now used.)
| 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Consto, De principijs rerum, è quibus omnia constant. Cicero. Of which all things do consist, or are compact and made. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §15 The metal or matter whereof it consisted. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 10 Does not our liues consist of the foure Elements? And. Faith so they say, but I thinke it rather consists of eating and drinking. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 16 When I behold this goodly Frame, this World of Heav'n and Earth consisting. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 51 Power at Sea consists chiefly of Men, able to fight at Sea. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt I. x. 203 No one was quite certain of whom this party consisted. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 223 Newton imagined light to consist of particles darted out from luminous bodies. 1891 Edge Law Times XC. 395/1 An ordinary fence, consisting of a ditch and a bank. |