console
n. countablen. a special electronic device used for playing video games on a television screen. It can also mean a panel with buttons and screens used to control a machine or computer.
n. a specialized electronic device designed for interactive video game play; alternatively, a control panel or interface housing the switches and monitors for a larger system.
He plays games on his console every evening.
The technician monitored the power levels from the main console in the control room.
While PC gaming offers more customization, many players prefer the streamlined experience of a dedicated console that connects directly to their home theater system.
Borrowed from French console (“bracket”, noun), from consoler (“to console, to comfort”, verb). Sense of “bracket” either due to a bracket alleviating the load, or due to brackets being decorated with the Christian figure of a consolateur (“consoler”), itself perhaps a pun on the first sense (alleviating load). Originally used for the bracket itself, then for wall-mounted tables (mounted with a bracket), then for free-standing tables placed against a wall. Use for control system dates at least to 1880s for an “organ console”; use for electrical or electronic control systems dates at least to 1930s in radio, television, and system control, particularly as “mixer console” or “control console”, attached to an equipment rack. This was popularized in computers by mainframes such as the IBM 704 (1954) in terms such as “operator’s console” or “console typewriter”, and then generalized to any attached equipment, particularly for user interaction. The automotive sense harks back to earlier use as “support”.
Borrowed from French consoler, from Latin cōnsōlor (“to console, offer solace”), root from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- (“mercy, comfort”) (whence also solace).
Often used as a modifier in phrases like 'console gaming' or 'console table'.