consolidate
Formsconsolidates, consolidating, consolidated
Formsconsolidates, consolidating, consolidated
- 1To combine separate things into a single unit, or to group them together as one.
The board voted to consolidate the regional branches under one management team.
Several small districts were consolidated into a single school system.
Similarcombine, merge, unite, amalgamate, unify
Oppositeseparate, divide, split, fragment
Note
The verb works both ways: you consolidate things, and things consolidate. Firms are the usual subject of the intransitive pattern, which takes with, as when a steel company in 1926 consolidated with one of its subcompanies. A phone can consolidate several gadgets too. When a leader is consolidating his power, though, the meaning has already shaded into the "make stronger" meaning.
- 2To make something stronger, firmer, or more secure.
The new general worked to consolidate his authority over the region.
Sleep helps consolidate the memories formed during the day.
Similarstrengthen, reinforce, secure, cement, fortify
Note
Here the word stays closest to its Latin core. Consolidō is built on solidus, "solid", and English can still be read as con- + solid + -ate. In military and political use it means securing what is already held rather than gaining more: troops arrive to consolidate the gains, and a general consolidates his authority. The idea is firming up a position, not enlarging it.
- 3To pay off several separate debts by taking out a single loan that covers them.
Many graduates consolidate their student loans to simplify repayment.
He consolidated several high-interest debts into a single bank loan.
Note
A finance term whose object is the debts themselves: you consolidate your loans, or consolidate them into one. It is a specialized case of the "combine into one" meaning. The difference is how the combining happens. A new loan pays the old ones off, so the borrower ends up owing a single lender instead of several.
Less common meaning
- 4Formed into a solid mass; made firm and compact.
A gentleman [should learn to ride] while he is tender and the brawns and sinews of his thighs not fully consolidate.
1531, Thomas Elyot, The Boke Named the GovernourNote
An adjective English has since let go in favor of the participle consolidated. It came straight from Latin consolidātus, which was already a past participle, so it needed no -ed ending. Thomas Elyot's The Boke Named the Governour (1531) says a young rider's thigh sinews are "not fully consolidate". A modern writer would say consolidated, and the bare form now reads as a slip.
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Origin
Borrowed from Latin consolidātus, from the verb consolidō, which comes from solidus ("solid"). It can be broken down as con- + solid + -ate.