consummation

American  

[kon-suh-mey-shuhn] / ˌkɒn səˈmeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of consummating; completion.

2. the state of being consummated; perfection; fulfillment.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonconsummation noun

Etymology

Origin of consummation

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English consummacioun, from Middle French, from Latin consummātiōn-, stem of consummātiō; equivalent to consummate + -ion

Explanation

Use the noun consummation when you mean the point at which something is finalized or completed. Your graduation from college will be the consummation of four years of hard work. Consummation comes from the Latin verb consummare, which means to sum up or to finish. The moment when something is finished is its consummation. The consummation of a year's hard work might be when you use your earnings to finally achieve your dream of traveling to Africa. The noun consummation can also refer specifically to the first act of sexual intercourse after a marriage.

Example Sentences

Strangely, it tells the history of the earth in reverse, beginning in the present, so humanity isn’t the consummation of evolution, but instead casts its shadow backward.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025

“The fact,” it said, “that an unforeseeable accident prevented the prompt consummation of the sentence cannot, it seems to us, add an element of cruelty to a subsequent execution.”

From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025

Or is it just the latest step toward some future, endlessly postponable consummation?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2023

"Unwinding the merger after consummation is highly problematic and disfavored, making divestiture post-consummation significantly more difficult."

From Reuters • May 11, 2023

The consummation of these deals represented an important victory for private enterprise, he pointed out, since the armies of both countries were socialized institutions.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller