consultation
Americannoun
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consultations
plural
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the act of consulting; conference.
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a meeting for deliberation, discussion, or decision.
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a meeting of physicians to evaluate a patient's case and treatment.
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English Law. a writ returning a case to an ecclesiastical court from a temporal one.
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Australian. lottery.
noun
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the act or procedure of consulting
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a conference for discussion or the seeking of advice, esp from doctors or lawyers
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of consultation
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin consultātiōn-, stem of consultātiō, from consultāt(us) “deliberated” (past participle of consultāre; see consult) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A consultation is a conference or meeting at which opinions are exchanged or advice is prescribed. If one doctor says your severe blueberry allergy is cured, you might want a consultation with another doctor before indulging in the forbidden fruit. Stemming from the Latin word consultationem, which means to “consult, ask counsel of, or reflect,” a consultation usually involves a lot of questions and hopefully expert answers. Consultations happen before big decisions have to be made, such as talking with a realtor before buying a house or conferring with master yogi before attempting a head stand.
Vocabulary lists containing consultation
Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018) Tribute List
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"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, Chapters 1–3
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The Young Man and the Sea
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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:
In consultation with NATO, two F-16 jet fighters shot down the naval drone, which was spotted east of the Romanian Black Sea city of Constanta near a gas platform with active workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The company also said it intends to close its European fiber cement business, subject to legal, regulatory and employee consultation requirements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
That’s according to the “U.S. froth forecasts” created by State Street Markets in consultation with Greenwood.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
The document was released as part of a consultation into how many hours should eventually fall under the new rules.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
And she smiled, at least initially, as a seemingly endless train of young women entered the store, each insisting that only direct consultation with Dr. Holmes himself would suffice.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Andrade-Wells said the company plans to expand and foster its online parenthood community and resources, which provide services like free feeding consultations and “a lot of education about that zero-to-one first year.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
A Pacific island leader says there were "no consultations" before the US announced swathes of nearby ocean could be auctioned for deep-sea mining exploration, telling AFP the industry faced strong opposition among his people.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
The physician behind it advertises direct consultations costing as much as $18,000.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
The decision was made after the 23-year-old's latest consultations with her medical team.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
She’d been privy to his consultations with every member of the crew, but she knew she was seeing only fragments of his plan.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Definitions 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.
