consist

verb con·sist \ kən-ˈsist \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Examples: consist in a Sentence

Definition of consist

consisted; consisting; consists

intransitive verb

1 : lie, reside —usually used with in

Liberty consists in the absence of obstructions …
—A. E. Housman

"In her consists my happiness … "
—William Shakespeare

2 archaic

a : exist, be

b : to be capable of existing

3 : to be composed or made up —usually used with of

Breakfast consisted of cereal, milk, and fruit.

The team consists of five players.

4 : to be consistent

it consists with the facts

See consist defined for English-language learners

See consist defined for kids

Examples of consist in a Sentence

that account consists with the information in the other reports

Recent Examples of consist from the Web

The southwestern United States, much of which consists of deserts and drylands, has the nation’s highest levels of airborne dust.

— Smithsonian, "How Climate Changed-Fueled “Mega Droughts” Could Harm Human Health," 12 June 2018
Do all oral contraceptives consist of the same hormone mix?

— blake bakkila, Health.com, "What Shay Mitchell Wants You to Know About Birth Control," 11 June 2018
But prosecutors say that Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kilimnik reached out to the two former associates to urge them to tell the special counsel’s team that the Hapsburg Group’s efforts consisted only of outreach in Europe and not in the United States.

— New York Times, "Mueller Adds Obstruction Charge on Manafort and Indicts His Right-Hand Man," 8 June 2018
Given that the miniseries consists of eight episodes, the answer is most definitely yes.

— refinery29.com, "We're Not Sleeping After Watching This Sharp Objects Trailer," 5 June 2018
This unique group consists of presidents of colleges and universities in Miami-Dade and the superintendent of our public school system.

— miamiherald, "Leigh-Ann Buchanan," 5 June 2018
This might sound like a reasonable trade-off, but recall that the North Korean threat consists of much more than nuclear weapons.

— michael o’hanlon, WSJ, "Is the U.S.-South Korea Alliance Worth It?," 4 June 2018
But Almaraz is quick to remind that a draft consists of 40 rounds, not one or two.

— scott lauber, Philly.com, "Johnny Almaraz defends scouting record with Phillies, hopes to find more gems this year," 4 June 2018
Mancini announced that Balotelli would not start against the Netherlands, revealing that the attacking line would consist of Simone Verdi, Andrea Belotti and Lorenzo Insigne.

— Fox News, "Balotelli: 'I don't have to be captain to be a role model'," 3 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'consist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of consist

Middle French & Latin; Middle French consister, from Latin consistere, literally, to stop, stand still, from com- + sistere to take a stand; akin to Latin stare to stand — more at stand

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1526

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

consist Synonyms

Phrases

fall in with;

consist

noun con·sist \ ˈkän-ˌsist \

Definition of consist

: makeup or composition (as of coal sizes or a railroad train) by classes, types, or grades and arrangement

Recent Examples of consist from the Web

The Bach Aria Soloists consist of violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane, soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson, harpsichordist, organist and pianist Elisa Williams Bickers and guitarist Beau Bledsoe.

— dan kelly, kansascity, "KC events June 14-20: Royals, ‘Peter Pan,’ Neal Brennan, Flag Day festivities," 12 June 2018
This one hour program consists of love songs from the 50s and 60s and patriotic/Americana songs.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Stafford Edition," 12 June 2018
Like Malchev says, the open source parts of Android (AOSP) just consist of operating-system code and won't actually run on a piece of hardware.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Talkin’ Treble: How Android engineers are winning the war on fragmentation," 8 June 2018
The largest consists of southern fighters, often with Salafist and separatist leanings.

— The Economist, "Yemen’s main port could become the next battleground," 7 June 2018
Prior to the finals on Thursday, spellers will have gone through preliminary rounds on May 29 and 30, which consist of a multiple-choice test and two rounds of oral spelling onstage.

— alex abad-santos, Vox, "Feldenkrais! Scherenschnitte! The 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee is here!," 30 May 2018
This one hour program consists of love songs from the 50s and 60s and patriotic/Americana songs.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Stafford Edition," 21 May 2018
But the 1,200 pages of documents, which consist of witness statements, shed some more light on his state of mind leading up to the shooting.

— jim carlton, WSJ, "Las Vegas Gunman Railed Against Government Before Shooting, Police Documents Show," 17 May 2018
Each of the six workspaces provided, which consist of a design loft, writing desk, sound space, tech lab, corner office and location scout are conducive to the resident's needs.

— eileen reslen, House Beautiful, "Here's How You Can Work From Hawaii for One Week, All For Free," 15 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of consist

see ¹consist

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1898

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

CONSIST Defined for Kids

consist

verb con·sist \ kən-ˈsist \

Definition of consist for Students

consisted; consisting

: to be made up or composed

Coal consists mostly of carbon.

Word Root of consist

The Latin word sistere, meaning “to stand,” “to appear,” “to stop,” or “to put,” gives us the root sist. Words from the Latin sistere have something to do with standing, appearing, stopping, or putting. To assist, or help, is to stand by someone in order to give aid. To consist is to be made up of a number of thing put together. To exist, or have actual being, is to appear real. To persist is to refuse to stop doing or saying something.