v. [ad. L. consist-ĕre to place oneself, stand still, stop, remain firm, exist, etc., f. con- altogether + sist-ĕre to cause to stand, place, stand, stand firm, stand still, stop, etc. Cf. F. consiste-r (14th c. in Littré).]
1. intr. To have a settled existence, subsist, hold together, exist, be. Obs. (or arch., after Col. i. 17).
1551. R. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop., I. (Arb.), 45. Betwene the whych two … no similitude or equalitie consisteth.
1579. Fenton, Guicciard., VIII. (1618), 318. Hauing such affinitie and coniunction together, that the one cannot consist without the other.
1582. N. T. (Rhem.), Col. i. 17. And he is before al, and al consist in him [Wyclif ben, Tindale, Geneva have their being]. 1611 ibid. And by him all things consist [1881 Rev. V. in him all things consist, marg. That is, hold together].
1610. Guillim, Heraldry, III. xxiv. (1660), 245. Vitall Spirits, without which the interior senses could not consist.
1691. Beverley, Thous. Years Kingd. Christ, 24. They so Begin, They so Consist, They so End, as to demonstrate, etc.
1710. Berkeley, Princ. Hum. Knowl., I. § 146. By whom all things consist.
1858. Bushnell, Nat. & Supernat., i. (1864), 31. They all consist, come together into system, in Christ.
† b. To stand firm, abide, remain, stay, keep its place; to have its place, lie. Obs.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apophth., 243 b. Woordes of jeste consistyng within ye boundes of honestee.
1556. Abp. Parker, Ps. cxix. 17. Consist that I in lyfe may still, so iust thy wordes to kepe.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., X. 483. This narrow Sea … consisteth betweene Cap di Sprat, and the Promontore of Sewty.
1643. Sir T. Browne, Relig. Med., I. § 3. Unstable judgments that cannot consist in the narrow point and centre of vertue without a reele or stagger to the circumference.
† c. To hold together as a material body; to have a firm consistence. Obs.
1576. Baker, Jewell of Health, 21 a. A man cannot worke anye thynge without that it consisteth thycke.
1612. Brerewood, Lang. & Relig., xiii. 136. It is … against the nature of water, being a flexible and ponderous body, so to consist and stay itself, and not fall to the lower parts about it.
† d. To come to a stand, stop short. Obs. rare.
1611. Donne, Ignat. Concl. (1635), 61. That things must not be extended infinitly; that wee must consist and arrest somewhere. Ibid. (1625), Serm., 3 April, 26. We shall neuer knowe where to stop, where to consist.
† 2. To exist together or alongside of each other as compatible facts, to co-exist. Obs. (exc. as passing into 3).
1548. R. Hutten, Sum of Diuin., F 5 b. Fayeth can not consiste wyth an euell conscience.
1553. Bale, Gardiner’s De vera Obed., D v b. They [sondry iurisdicciones] marre not one another: but they consist, & concurre by ye mutual help of one to an other.
1656. Bramhall, Replic., 24. Truth in fundamentalls and errour in superstructures may consist together.
1675. Baxter, Cath. Theol., II. I. 119. [It is] a logical impossibility that these two should consist, ‘He believeth’ and ‘he believeth not.’
1814. Southey, Roderick, XVI. 217. If tears and trembling limbs With such celestial natures might consist.
† b. To be capable of existing along with, to be possible and so compatible with. arch. or Obs.
1734. Pope, Ess. Man, IV. 79. Health consists with temperance alone.
1747. Wesley, Prim. Physic (1762), p. xxii. Costiveness cannot long consist with Health.
1846. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., I. III. I. xv. § 8. The Spirit of Prophecy consisted with the avarice of Balaam and the disobedience of Saul.
3. To be consistent in form, tenor, or character; to be congruous; to agree, harmonize (with). See CONSISTENT.
1638. Chillingw., Relig. Prot., ii. § 104. Which whether it can consist with his goodnes … I leave it to honest men to judge.
1652. Gataker, Antinom., 11. [This] doth wel concur and consist with what he said in the former.
1699. Bentley, Phal., 478. The New Piece is clap’d into [the Old Text] … as if they both consisted very well, and suited together.
1741. Berkeley, Lett., 7 June, in Fraser, Life. The ordinances … which we take to consist all and hang together.
1788. Lond. Mag., 257. [He] said it consisted with his certain knowledge.
1818. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, I. II. iv. 169. A more extensive survey of the field of law, than consists with the plan of the present work.
1827. Westm. Rev., April, 503. The information he received perfectly consists with our friend the Serjeant’s account.
a. 1871. Grote, Eth. Fragm., iv. (1876), 104. Appetites are to be indulged only so far as consists with some definite and approved end.
† 4. Consist on or upon; to stand on, be based upon, rest upon. lit. and fig. Obs.
c. 1534. trans. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden), I. 280. The Englishe imperie consistethe on sewer pillers.
1570. Billingsley, Euclid, I. xxxvi. 46. Parallelogrammes consisting vpon equall bases, and in the selfe same parallel lines, are equall the one to the other.
1602. Segar, Hon. Mil. & Civ., III. liv. § 3. 197. This Temple seemed to consist upon Pillars of Pourferry, arched like vnto a Church.
1660. Bond, Scut. Reg., 66. A survey of the main Triangle upon which the art of Government consists.
† b. To have its existence based upon, or depending on. Obs.
1588. Greene, Pandosto (1607), 18. To thinke, that the common wealth consisted on his safety.
1591. F. Sparry, trans. Cattan’s Geomancie, 162. When the figure doth consist vppon many good figures.
1650. Earl Monm., trans. Senault’s Man bec. Guilty, 345. Their fortune consisted on his fancy.
† c. To stand or insist upon, on. Obs.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. i. 187. Such large termes, and so absolute, As our Conditions shall consist vpon. Ibid. (1608), Per., I. iv. 83. Welcome is peace, if he on peace consist.
† 5. Consist by: = 4 or next. Obs. rare.
1566–75. Painter, Pal. Pleas. (1813), II. 377. By the only courage of your minde consisteth the hap or mishap of your affayres.
1656. Earl Monm., Adv. fr. Parnass., 329. The delight of the Vertuosi … consists wholly by extracting useful precepts from noble representations; thereby to enrich their minds.
1713. Lond. Gaz., No. 5130/6. We whose Livelihoods consist by Trade.
6. Consist in: to have its being in.
† a. To be, exist, reside, or inhere in; to be vested, located, comprised in. Obs.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1. The selfe pilgrymage, whiche consysteth or standeth in vij dayes iourney.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Chron. xxx. [xxix]. 12. In thy hande consisteth power and might.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. 99. In whome doth the election of the minister or pastor consist?
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., IV. iv. 406. In her, consists my Happinesse, and thine.
1611. Bible, Luke xii. 15. A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., I. x. 30. The usual Moods may not here be mist, In them much cunning doth consist.
1820. Shelley, Œdipus, I. 145. They think their strength consists in eating beef.
† b. To have its essence or essential character in.
1594. Carew, trans. Huarte’s Exam. Wits (1616), 290. The male sex consisteth in this, that the seed be hot and dry at the time of his forming.
† c. To be, exist, or be engaged in. Obs.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], trans. Hist. Ivstine, 38 b. He promised to discharge them of the warres and danger they consisted in.
d. To be comprised or contained in (actions, conditions, qualities, or other things non-material); to be constituted of. Now the usual sense.
1576. Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 166. For, mine advise, at that time, consisted in this point.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxx. § 2. Offices and duties of religious joy … wherein the hallowing of festival times consisteth.
1667. Milton, P. L., VIII. 589. In loving thou dost well, in passion not, Wherein true Love consists not.
a. 1677. Barrow, in Beauties of B. (1846), 55. Recreations … consisting merely in rustic efforts, or in petty sleights of bodily strength and activity.
1728. R. Morris, Ess. Anc. Archit., 36. The Sensibility of its consisting in a Conformity to our Ideas.
1736. Butler, Anal., I. iii. Wks. 1874, I. 48. Moral government consists … in rewarding the righteous, and punishing the wicked.
1818. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. viii. 673. His administration consisted in a perpetual change of ill-concerted measures.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 45. Not every one can tell in what the beauty of a figure consists.
e. To be embodied in; to be composed of. arch. Now usually to consist of: see 7.
1614. Selden, Titles Hon., 288. As our Commons, which consist in Freeholders.
1735. Johnson, trans. Lobo’s Voy. Abyssinia, 264. The whole Revenue of the Emperor consists in Lands and Goods.
1760. Goldsm., Cit. World, xcvi. § 2. Your clothing consisted in an hempen bag tied round the neck with a string.
1809. Kendall, Trav., II. xlvii. 143. The timber consists almost exclusively in black pine and oak.
1845. Stephen, Laws Eng., I. 168. Things real are usually said to consist in lands, tenements, and hereditaments.
1875. Jevons, Money (1878), 23. The fee consists in some sort of cattle.
† f. Formerly, consist to do was = consist in doing. Obs.
1547–64. Bauldwin, Mor. Philos. (Palfr.), V. ii. The high vertues … consysteth not onely to suffer the passions of the body, but also to dissemble them of the soule.
7. Consist of: to be made up or composed of; to have as its constituent substance or elements. (Of was here orig. = from, out of. Consist of was formerly also used where consist in is now used.)
1565–73. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Consto, De principijs rerum, è quibus omnia constant. Cicero. Of which all things do consist, or are compact and made.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lxv. § 15. The metal or matter whereof it consisted.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., II. iii. 10. Does not our liues consist of the foure Elements? And. Faith so they say, but I thinke it rather consists of eating and drinking.
1667. Milton, P. L., VIII. 16. When I behold this goodly Frame, this World Of Heav’n and Earth consisting.
a. 1687. Petty, Pol. Arith. (1690), 51. Power at Sea consists chiefly of Men, able to fight at Sea.
1792. Anecd. W. Pitt, I. x. 203. No one was quite certain of whom this party consisted.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., II. i. 223. Newton imagined light to consist of particles darted out from luminous bodies.
1891. Edge, Law Times, XC. 395/1. An ordinary fence, consisting of a ditch and a bank.
