consolation
(kɒnsəˈleɪʃən)
[a. F. consolation (12th c. in Littré), ad. L. consōlātiōn-em consoling, comfort, n. of action from consōlārī to console.]
1. The action of consoling, cheering, or comforting; the state of being consoled; alleviation of sorrow or mental distress.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 708 Men seyn, to wrecche is consolacion To haue another felaw in his peyne. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 23, I had hoped to haue had in the grete consolacyon. 1535 Coverdale Philem. 7 Greate ioye and consolacion haue I in thy loue. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 174 This greefe is crown'd with Consolation. 1671 Milton Samson 664 Unless he feel within Some source of consolation from above. 1726 W. R. Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 210 All the Advice we gave him brought him no Consolation. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 10 The earliest Christian pilgrims, for whose guidance and consolation in their journey a new star was created. |
2. (with pl.) An act or instance of consolation; a person or thing that affords consolation; a consoling fact or circumstance.
| c 1400 Beryn 1102 The wich seyd shortly, for a molestacioune Ther was noon othir remedy, but a consolacioune. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 13 b, Innumerable moo benefytes and consolacyons he hathe gyuen vs. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 495 Against such cruelties With inward consolations recompenc't. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §266 One misfortune frequently becomes a consolation for another. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 418 Pericles in the funeral oration is silent on the consolations of immortality. |
3. a. In some card games, as ombre, quadrille, etc.: see quots.
The word occurs in Le Jeu de l'Hombre, Paris 1709, p. 126.
| 1768 Acad. of Play 46 The Consolation is two Counters, which are paid to him or them that stand the Game if they win, or is paid by them if they lose, whether it be by Remise or Codill. 1779 Hoyle's Games Impr. 114 (Quadrille), Consolation, is a Claim, which is always paid by those who lose to those who win; whether by Codill or Remise. 1878 H. H. Gibbs Ombre 49 Consolation, the payment for the game, made by the Ombre when he lost, to the other players. |
b. consolation prize (see prize n.1 1); now usually, a prize given to a competitor who has not won one of the stipulated prizes; also fig.; consolation race, consolation match, etc.: one open only to those competitors who have been unsuccessful in the preceding ‘events’; so consolation stakes. Dutch consolation: see Dutch a. 4.
| 1866 Ouida Chandos I. 70 He is the most wretched animal..he could not win in a consolation scramble. 1886 Wesleyan-Meth. Mag. Jan. 58 Only sixty-one can be successful, while nine others are granted the consolation prize of a half-degree. 1899 [see prize n.1 1]. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 2 Nov. 352/2 The thousand-pound prize gives help to one (perhaps there are some consolation prizes) who..is quite good enough to look after himself. 1963 Listener 7 Mar. 407/1 Let us see whether there are not some consolation prizes for our failure to qualify for membership in E.E.C. |