consultant

American  

[kuhn-suhl-tnt] / kənˈsʌl tnt /

noun

• consultants
  plural

1. a person who gives professional or expert advice.

   a consultant on business methods.

2. a person who consults someone or something.

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consultant British  

/ kənˈsʌltənt /

noun

1. 1. a senior physician, esp a specialist, who is asked to confirm a diagnosis or treatment or to provide an opinion

   2. a physician or surgeon holding the highest appointment in a particular branch of medicine or surgery in a hospital

2. a specialist who gives expert advice or information

3. a person who asks advice in a consultation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• consultancy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• consultants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of consultant

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French or directly from Latin consultant- (stem of consultāns, present participle of consultāre “to take counsel”); see origin at consult, -ant

Explanation

A consultant is an expert in a particular field. Sometimes a business will rely on the guidance of a consultant to help change its image. How did the word consultant come about? Consult dates to the 1520s and comes from the French word consultare, meaning "take advice of." The related noun consultant, to mean someone qualified to give advice, is believed to have first appeared in an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

consultant consultants

"It's getting more dangerous for a small country to stand outside the EU," the 59-year-old consultant and horse-breeder said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Grace's GP did not diagnose her condition and nor did the first consultant she saw privately.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

In early 2013, Moderna hired physician-turned-McKinsey consultant Stephen Hoge to lead the company’s new drug efforts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

“I do think Paxton needs to define Talarico, and he needs to do it soon,” John Wittman, an unaffiliated Republican consultant and former adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott, said in an interview.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

My uncle, a senior consultant surgeon in a huge London hospital, came home most weekends.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

I’d adapted when the Covid-19 pandemic closed our brick-and-mortar building and gave middle managers and commercial consultants more authority.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

In a planning report, external, PLanD development consultants said at least 37 families, the majority local to Anglesey, had asked about buying the properties as homes in the "tight-knit community".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

One of the show’s consultants had experienced a similar loss, and their insights helped the writing staff find dramatic resonance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

The fund managers use internal analysis and outside consultants to assign ratings signaling whether those borrowers are meeting expectations and seem likely to keep paying their debts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

The most marked manifestation of the trend was an enhanced standard of living for Rad Lab scientists placed on the government payroll as consultants.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• advisor
• expert
• specialist
• veteran