Word
consist
Phoneticscon·sist
/kənˈsɪst/
Definitions
01to be made of
v. to be made of or formed from specific things or people.
v. to be composed or made up of specific parts or members; almost always used with the preposition 'of'.
“The breakfast menu consists of fresh fruit, cereal, and coffee.”
“The research committee consists of five senior faculty members and two student representatives who meet monthly to review proposals.”
General-service
Usage
Always used with the preposition 'of' when describing components.
Pitfall
The team is consisted of ten players.
The team consists of ten players.
The verb 'consist' is intransitive and cannot be used in the passive voice. Use 'consists of' or 'is composed of'.
02to lie or reside in
v. to have something as its main part or reason.
v. to have a specified thing as its essential nature or foundation; typically used with the preposition 'in'.
“True happiness consists in being satisfied with what you already have.”
“The beauty of the poem consists in its simple language and the powerful emotions it evokes without being overly dramatic.”
Formal · Academic
Usage
Used with the preposition 'in' to describe an abstract quality or essence.
03a train lineup
n. a group of train cars that are connected together.
n. the group of rail vehicles, including locomotives and cars, that make up a specific train.
“The engineer checked the consist to make sure all the freight cars were attached.”
“The heavy-haul consist included four diesel locomotives and over one hundred coal wagons destined for the coastal terminal.”
Technical · American English
Usage
The stress is typically on the first syllable (CON-sist) when used as a noun.
Confusables
Consist describes the components that make up the whole, while contain describes what is held inside a space or container.
RememberConsist = The recipe. Contain = The box.
Etymology
From Middle French consister, from Latin consistō (“stand together, stop, become hard or solid, agree with, continue, exist”), from com- (“together”) + sistō (“I cause to stand, stand”).
From consist (verb).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/consist