counsellor, -elor
(ˈkaʊnsɪlə(r))
Forms: α. 3 kunsiler, 3–4 consiler, -seiler, 3–5 -seyler, 4 cunsaylere, conseiller, -sailler, counsellere, -ceile(e)r, 4–5 conseilere, counseiler(e, 4–6 counseler, -sayler, 4–7 -sailer, 5 counseiller, -celler, 5–6 sulere, 5–7 counseller, 6 conseylyr, counseyler, -seler, -sellar, -celer. Also β. 4 conseillour, -seilour, -seylour, counseilor, -selour, -celour, 4–5 counseilour, -seillor, 4–6 -seillour, -sailour, -saillour, -saylour, 4–8 counsellour, 5 conseyllour, counseyllour, cownselour, 6 counsaylour, cownsaylour, 6–7 counsailor, councellour, -or, 6– counsellor.
[ME. counseiller(e, etc., a. OF. conseillere (nom.), and ME. counseillour, a. OF. conseilleor (oblique), respectively:—L. consiliātor and consiliātōrem, agent-n. from consiliāre to counsel, advise.
Like counsel, formerly also spelt counceler, councellor, etc.; since c 1600 these forms have been differentiated from counsellor under the type councillor, as official counsellor, member of a ‘council’.]
1. a. One who counsels or advises; an adviser.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 410 Luue is his chaumberling, & his kunsiler. c 1250 Meid. Maregrete (1862) 38 Awei ye euele consilers. a 1300 Cursor M. 9314 (Cott.) Man sal him clep.. Ferliful and conseiler [v.r. cunsaylere, counsellere]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 29 He cursiþ her wickide counceileers. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1550 Hips. & Medea, Frely ȝaf he to hire conseylerys [v.r. counselleres, -selers, -seleris, conseillers] Giftys grete. c 1450 Merlin iv. 68, I may neuer haue reste for hym, and Vlfyn hys counseiller. c 1500 Lancelot 1706 An agit knycht to be thi consulere. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 24 Hys wyse conseylyrs and polytyke men. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 38 God..misteris na counsellar. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xxii. 3 His mother was his counseller to doe wickedly. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 9822 (Cott.) To nam haf farliful he sal, and consaillur [v.r. consaylour, counsellour, councelour] man sal him cal. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle i. i. (1859) 1 That lady that was thyne helper and thyn counseillour. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Pref. 8 Suche noble and sapient Counsaillours. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 128/1 They are also called councellors, because they are assembled and called to the parlement for their aduise and good councell. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. iii. 55 My selfe your loyall Seruant, your Physitian. Your most obedient Counsailor. 1694 R. L'Estrange Fables xxi. (1714) 29 Let All Men of Business be Councellors, Confidents, etc. 1725 Pope Odyss. xvii. 81 His father's counsellours, rever'd for age. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 87 ¶3 The inefficacy of advice is usually the fault of the counsellor. 1880 Disraeli Endym. xvi, Above all, she was a first-rate counsellor in costume. |
| fig. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxviii[i]. 24 In thy testimonies is my delite, they are my councelers. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 180 Hatred and feare be two bad Counsellors in warre. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 17 Those Linnen cheekes of thine Are Counsailers to feare. 1838 Lytton Leila i. v, Fill out the wine—it is a soothing counsellor, and I need it. |
b. One who specializes in the counselling of clients (see counselling, -eling vbl. n.).
| 1940 C. R. Rogers in Jrnl. Consulting Psychol. IV. 162/1 There must be a warmth of relationship between counsellor and counselee. 1946 Britannica Bk. of Yr. 461/1 Headway was being made in establishing and advancing the professional standards of the counselling specialist largely as a result of the influence of the American Association of Marriage Counselors. 1954 H. B. Pepinsky Counseling Theory & Practice v. 115 The counselor must learn to predict his own behavior as well as that of his client. 1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex v. 44 Emotional reactions from the Counsellor, arising mostly from origins of which he or she is not aware, are unhelpful. 1965 P. Halmos Faith of Counsellors ii. 28 Man's sensibility to his fellow man's needs continues and seeks expression in the professionalised concerns and ministrations of the counsellors. 1970 Times 7 Oct. 12 The idea of counselling in schools is not altogether new... What is new is establishment of the schools counsellor as a professional. 1983 Counselling Aug. 2 Some research exercises have revealed that clients themselves value the intervention of a counsellor. |
2. An official counsellor; an adviser of the sovereign, a member of the King's Council. In this sense spelt since 16th c. councillor, q.v.
3. (More fully counsellor-at-law.) One whose profession is to give legal advice to clients, and conduct their cases in court; a counselling lawyer, a barrister or advocate. arch. in Eng. use; still used in Ireland. In some of the United States, an attorney admitted to practise in all the courts.
| 1531 Dial. on Laws Eng. ii. xix. (1638) 92 What is the Counsellor in that case bounden to him that he gave counsell to? 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 109 Good Counsellors lacke no Clients. 1632 Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 111 M{supr} Tuke the elder ingrossed the said Butler's answere with his own hand, and gott a Councellor's hand thereunto. 1648 Lilly Astrol. Prediction 64 note, A Counsellor at Law, very learned and in great practice. 1779 F. Burney Diary Oct., A rich counsellor, learned in the law, but, to me, a displeasing man. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxvii, Mr. Counsellor Pleydell. 1877 Blackie's Pop. Encycl. III. 704/1 A counsellor at law, named Mallet, who lived in the reign of Charles I. 1891 Murray's Mag. Dec. 977 (Two Irish Stories) I'm goin' to be med a barrister, or, as we call it here, a counsellor. |
† 4. One who consults or asks counsel. Obs. rare.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 78 Cownselour, qui petit consilium. |
5. A senior officer in the diplomatic service, especially in the larger British missions to foreign and Commonwealth countries; also a senior officer in the home departments of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The form councillor is used in the Foreign Office List of 1905. See also quot. 1889 s.v. councillor a.
| 1914 Foreign Office List 160 Counsellor of Embassy, or..First Secretary at posts where the staff does not include a Counsellor. 1923 Ibid. 1 Establishment in London..Assistant Under Secretaries of State..Counsellors. Ibid., Finance Officer with rank of Counsellor. Ibid. 113/1 Naval, Military and Air Attachés at His Majesty's Embassies..have Place and Precedence next in succession after the Diplomatic Counsellor, but before the Commercial Counsellor. 1959 Listener 2 Apr. 580/2 The embassies are organized in conventional patterns..with the usual apparatus of counsellors, secretaries, attachés and service attachés. 1968 ‘J. le Carré’ Small Town in Germany ii. 23, I must accordingly ask you that until further notice all British Embassy staff below the rank of Counsellor be confined to the area of Bonn. |