# consequence

Pronunciation: say "KON-si-kwens" US /ˈkɑnsɪkwɛns/, UK /ˈkɒnsɪkwɛns/

## Noun

1. Something that happens as a result of an earlier action, event, or cause.
   - Simple: Something that happens because of an earlier action or event.
   - _The flooding was a direct consequence of the dam's failure._
   - _Higher prices are often a consequence of increased demand._
2. An unwanted or unpleasant effect that follows from an action.
   - Simple: A bad or unwanted result of something you do.
   - _Drivers who speed must accept the consequences if they cause a crash._
   - _One consequence of the budget cuts was longer wait times at clinics._
3. Importance, influence, or significance, especially when something is described as of consequence.
   - Simple: How important or serious a person or thing is.
   - _The clerical error turned out to be of no real consequence._
   - _He is a politician of considerable consequence in the region._
4. A linked sequence of causes and effects; consecution.
   - Simple: A chain in which one cause leads to an effect, which leads on to the next.
   - _The historian mapped the consequence of decisions that led, link by link, to the collapse._
   - _In her account each step formed part of a single consequence running from origin to outcome._
5. A conclusion, deduction, or inference; the thing concluded from given facts.
   - Simple: A conclusion you reach by reasoning from facts you already know.
   - _In a valid argument, the consequence cannot be false when the premises are true._
   - _The logician examined whether the consequence really followed from the stated premises._

## Verb

6. To threaten or punish a child or similar person with specific penalties for misbehaving.
   - Simple: To punish a child by giving a set penalty when they misbehave.
   - _Staff are trained to consequence residents calmly and consistently._
   - _She consequenced her son by taking away his screen time for the week._

## Origin

The word came into Middle English from Old French "consequence", which came from Latin "consequentia". It can be broken down as con- plus sequence, though its adjective form has a different origin.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/consequence (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).