consummation

American  

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

noun

1. the act of consummating; completion.

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

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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

Consummation of the deal leaves many a well-known name in the arms & munitions field.

From Time Magazine Archive

And whether he is cropping instrumental voices closely for an original ballad like Consummation, or unleashing brassy, rhythmic bursts for a freewheeling tune like Fingers.

From Time Magazine Archive

A thing ever struggling forward; irrepressible, advancing inevitable; perfecting itself, all days, more and more,—never to be perfect till that general Doomsday, the ultimate Consummation, and Last of earthly Days.

From Past and Present by Carlyle, Thomas

As on the contrary, no single Step should be omitted in that just and regular Progress which it must be supposed to take from its Original to its Consummation.

From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Addison, Joseph

That is also a very striking conception that of the Ragnarok, Consummation, or Twilight of the Gods.

From On Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History by Carlyle, Thomas