Con″sort (kŏn″sôrt), n. [L. consore, -sortis; con- + sors lot, fate, share. See Sort.] 1. One who shares the lot of another; a companion; a partner; especially, a wife or husband. Milton.
He single chose to live, and shunned to wed,
Well pleased to want a consort of his bed.
Dryden.
The consort of the queen has passed from this troubled sphere.
Thakeray.
The snow-white gander, invariably accompanied by his darker consort.
Darwin.
2. (Naut.) A ship keeping company with another.
3. Concurrence; conjunction; combination; association; union. “By Heaven's consort.” Fuller. “Working in consort.” Hare.
Take it singly, and it carries an air of levity; but, in consort with the rest, has a meaning quite different.
Atterbury.
4. [LL. consortium.] An assembly or association of persons; a company; a group; a combination.
In one consort' there sat
Cruel revenge and rancorous despite,
Disloyal treason, and heart-burning hate.
Spenser.
Lord, place me in thy consort.
Herbert.
5. [Perh. confused with concert.] Harmony of sounds; concert, as of musical instruments. Milton.
To make a sad consort';
Come, let us join our mournful song with theirs.
Spenser.
Prince consort, the husband of a queen regnant. — Queen consort, the wife of a king, as distinguished from a queen regnant, who rules alone, and a queen dowager, the window of a king.