Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests and assist its citizens there.
  • noun Either of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, elected for a term of one year.
  • noun Any of the three chief magistrates of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of the two chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic, annually chosen in the Campus Martius.
  • noun In French history, the title given to the three supreme magistrates of the French republic after the dissolution of the Directory in 1799.
  • noun In international law, an agent appointed and commissioned by a sovereign state to reside in a foreign city or town, to protect the interests of its citizens and commerce there, and to collect and forward information on industrial and economic matters. He does not usually represent his government as a diplomatic agent in any sense.
  • noun A senator of Venice.
  • noun Formerly, in southern France and Catalonia, a municipal magistrate.
  • noun Formerly, within the foreign colony or settlement of a town, the representative chief of the merchants and their intermediary with the local government.
  • noun A local representative of a cyclists' touring club.
  • To submit (an invoice) for certification to the consul of a country to which goods are consigned.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rom. Antiq.) One of the two chief magistrates of the republic.
  • noun obsolete A senator; a counselor.
  • noun (Fr. Hist.) One of the three chief magistrates of France from 1799 to 1804, who were called, respectively, first, second, and third consul.
  • noun An official commissioned to reside in some foreign country, to care for the commercial interests of the citizens of the appointing government, and to protect its seamen.
  • noun a consul of the first rank, stationed in an important place, or having jurisdiction in several places or over several consuls.
  • noun a consular officer holding the place of a consul during the consul's absence or after he has been relieved.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An official residing in a foreign country in order to protect the interests of citizens from his or her nation.
  • noun historical Either of the two highest-ranking officials of the Roman Republic.
  • noun historical One of the three chief magistrates of France from 1799 to 1804.
  • noun obsolete A senator; a counsellor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a diplomat appointed by a government to protect its commercial interests and help its citizens in a foreign country

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, Roman consul, from Latin cōnsul; possibly akin to cōnsulere, to take counsel.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cōnsul.

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Examples

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  • A local representative of a cyclists' touring club. --from the definitions.

    January 21, 2013