consequently
- 1As a result of something that came before; therefore.
The company lost its biggest client and consequently had to cut its workforce.
The sample was contaminated; consequently, the entire experiment had to be repeated.
UsageDo not confuse it with subsequently, afterward. Between clauses, put a semicolon or period before it, or write and consequently.
Similartherefore, so, thus, hence, accordingly
Note
It also sits mid-clause, as in a 1668 case reported in James Dalrymple's Decisions (1683), where one discharge frees a man and consequently his partner.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- James Dalrymple's report of a case dated 3 July 1668 uses consequently within a clause about a discharge extending to a partner. en.wiktionary.org
- The relevant first part of Dalrymple's Decisions was published in Edinburgh in 1683. highlifehighland.com
- 2Afterward; following something else in time or in a sequence, with no sense of cause.
Note
Here the word marks only what comes next, and modern ears cannot hear it that way. Today the "as a result" meaning is so dominant that an older sentence using consequently for plain order is easily read as cause and effect: what was meant as next is heard as therefore. When reading older prose, check whether a cause is really implied.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Consequently historically had a temporal or sequential meaning without necessary causation. en.wiktionary.org
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
Built from "consequent" plus the suffix "-ly," the word was already in use in Middle English, in spellings such as consequentely, consequentliche, and consequently.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The word is formed from consequent plus the suffix -ly. en.wiktionary.org
- The word existed in Middle English in the spellings consequentely, consequentliche, and consequently. en.wiktionary.org