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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

consume.

To use up.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/kənˈsjuːm/Received-Pronunciation, UK/kənˈʃuːm/UK/kənˈsum/US/kənˈsjʉːm/Australia
  1. To use up.

    transitive
    The power plant consumes 30 tons of coal per hour.
  2. To eat.

    transitive
    Baby birds consume their own weight in food each day.
  3. To completely occupy the thoughts or attention of.

    transitive
    Desire consumed him.
  4. To destroy completely.

    transitive
    The building was consumed by fire.
  5. To waste away slowly.

    intransitive · obsolete
  6. To obtain and use goods or services as an individual.

    intransitive · transitive
    In a materialistic society, individuals are taught to consume, consume, consume.
    If you consume this product while in Japan, you may be subject to consumption tax.
  7. To absorb information, especially through the mass media.

    transitive
    The Internet has changed the way we consume news.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Italic *supo Latin sub Latin sub- Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₁émeti Proto-Italic *emō Latin emō Latin sūmō Latin cōnsūmōder. Old French consumerbor. Middle English consumen English consume From Middle English consumen, from Old French consumer, from Latin cōnsūmere, cōnsūmō, from con- (“with, together”) + sūmō (“take; consume”), from sub- + emō (“to buy, take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to take, distribute”), possibly related to the root *nem- (“to take or give one's due”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.