Skip to main content
PlainSpell

consult

/ˈkɑnsʌlt/noun, verb

consult is spelled C-O-N-S-U-L-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, consult means “A visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of consult is consults.

How many letters and syllables are in consult?

Letters7: C-O-N-S-U-L-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is consult?

Consult appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce consult?

  • UK /ˈkɒnsʌlt/
  • UK /kənˈsʌlt/
  • US /ˈkɑnsʌlt/

Consult has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-consult-noun.ogg, En-us-consult-verb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of consult

  • consults plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • consulting participle, present
  • consulted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does consult mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    USA visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation.

  2. 2

    obsoleteThe act of consulting or deliberating; consultation.

  3. 3

    obsoleteThe result of consultation; determination; decision.

  4. 4

    obsoleteA council; a meeting for consultation.

  5. 5

    obsoleteAgreement; concert.

verb

  1. 1

    To seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer; to advise.

  2. 2

    To advise or offer expertise.

  3. 3

    To work as a consultant or contractor rather than as a full-time employee of a firm.

  4. 4

    To ask advice of; to seek the opinion of (a person)

  5. 5

    To refer to (something) for information.

  6. 6

    To have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo deliberate upon; to take for.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo bring about by counsel or contrivance; to devise; to contrive.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Consult in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse concerter (deliberate together), consulter (ask advice)
GermanRat halten, beratschlagen (deliberate together), beraten (ask advice), um Rat fragen (transitive, to ask advice of; to seek the…)
Portugueseconsultar (ask advice)
Spanishconsultar (ask advice)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does consult come from?

From Middle French consulter, from Latin cōnsultum, from cōnsultus, from cōnsulō.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after consult