noun
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the business premises or residence of a consul
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government by consuls
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the office or period of office of a consul or consuls
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(often capital)
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the government of France by the three consuls from 1799 to 1804
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this period of French history
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(often capital)
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the consular government of the Roman republic
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the office or rank of a Roman consul
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of consulate
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin consulātus, equivalent to consul consul + -ātus -ate 3
Explanation
One of the buildings where diplomats work is called a consulate. Many countries have both an American embassy and an American consulate. A consul is a diplomat who works in a foreign country as her home country's representative. The consul's offices are located in the consulate. A traveler might visit his own country's consulate when he's traveling abroad and needs help of some kind — for example, if his passport has been stolen or he's gotten into legal trouble. The root of consulate is the Latin consul, "magistrate," from consulere, "to deliberate or counsel."
Vocabulary lists containing consulate
The Distance Between Us
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Games of Deception
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Parachutes
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Many American readers know him as the guy who traveled to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu in February 2012 to retrieve Bo’s police chief, who had sought refuge there following a rift with Bo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
The Belgian authorities said a car from its consulate had a window smashed and a French mayor was assaulted.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
On September 8, Saar ordered the British consulate to close.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The British first opened a consulate in Jerusalem in 1838.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Sierra Leone consulate, ahh, embassy,” I told the driver.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
At times, he admitted in the plea, he falsely claimed to have previously worked for the DEA, claimed to be an attorney or claimed to be doing work with or at U.S. consulates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
They were relocated to Musina from various cities where migrants had gathered outside government offices or foreign consulates for help to get home.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Appointments at U.S. consulates can routinely take months or even years to secure, meaning prospective applicants face prolonged time away from their U.S.-based jobs or family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
Until this week, only Iceland and the US had formal diplomatic consulates in Nuuk.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
They were feted by premiers and emirs and entertained at embassies and consulates as they made their way back west to Palermo, Sicily, where they boarded another tanker for the homeward passage.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
