console
UK /ˈkɒn.səʊl/ · US /ˈkɑn.soʊl/ noun, verb
Forms consoles consoling consoled
- noun A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system. “The film's music blared from the console.”
- noun A desk-like cabinet, table, or stand upon which controls, instruments, and displays are mounted.
- noun An instrument with displays and an input device that is used to monitor and control an electronic system.
- noun The keyboard and screen of a computer or other electronic device.
- noun (automotive) A storage tray or container mounted between the seats of an automobile. “Could you put my phone in the centre console?”
- noun (architecture) An ornamental member jutting out of a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, often S-shaped.
- noun A cantilever.
- noun (heraldry) A decorative frame or support (in architecture, drawings, etc) around a heraldic shield.
- verb (transitive) To comfort (someone) in a time of grief, disappointment, etc.
Synonyms
Etymology
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).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cheer in distress or depression; to alleviate the grief and raise the spirits of; to relieve; to comfort; to soothe.
Etymology [L. consolari,. p.p. consolatus; con- + solari to console, comfort: cf. F. consoler. See Solace.]
Etymology [F.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “console”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details