Console: To Comfort, and a Panel Full of Controls
To console is to comfort someone in distress. The noun, stressed differently, means a control panel, a games machine, or a table against a wall.
Console is two words wearing one spelling. The verb, con-SOLE, means to comfort. The noun, CON-sole, means a panel or cabinet, and the two arrived in English by different routes even though both trace back to Latin.
- To comfort (verb). *He tried to console her.*
- A control panel (noun). *The pilot checked the console.*
- A games machine. *A new games console.*
- A table fixed to a wall. *A marble console table.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | console | Console the losers. |
| Noun | console | The central console. |
| Noun | consolation | A consolation prize. |
| Adjective | inconsolable | She was inconsolable. |
| Adjective | consoling | A consoling word. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Nothing could console him.The verb, stressed on the second syllable.
- The console sits between the two front seats.The noun, stressed on the first.
- They took some consolation from the performance.Comfort found in a defeat.
Consoles you might meet
- Games console — a dedicated machine for playing games
- Centre console — the panel between a car's front seats
- Mixing console — the desk in a recording studio
- Console table — a narrow table fixed against a wall
- Organ console — the keyboards and stops the organist sits at
The verb comes from Latin *consolari*, to comfort. The noun comes through French *console*, an architectural bracket, and was applied to organ keyboards, then to control panels, then to games machines.
Are the two consoles related?
Only distantly. The comfort verb and the bracket noun took separate paths into English, and their meanings never overlapped.
What is a consolation prize?
An award given to someone who did not win, meant to soften the loss.