English
console
Console comes from French console ‘bracket’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconsole‘bracket’
- Englishearliest quotation 1919same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconsole‘bracket’
- Englishearliest quotation 1919same form
Earliest quotation: 1919, Allan Marquand, Robbia Heraldry: “On an attractive console with two winged putti as…”
The story
Sense of “bracket” either due to a bracket alleviating the load, or due to brackets being decorated with the Christian figure of a consolateur (‘consoler’), itself perhaps a pun on the first sense (alleviating load). Originally used for the bracket itself, then for wall-mounted tables (mounted with a bracket), then for free-standing tables placed against a wall. Use for control system dates at least to 1880s for an “organ console”; use for electrical or electronic control systems dates at least to 1930s in radio, television, and system control, particularly as “mixer console” or “control console”, attached to an equipment rack. This was popularized in computers by mainframes such as the IBM 704 (1954) in terms such as “operator’s console” or “console typewriter”, and then generalized to any attached equipment, particularly for user interaction.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *selh₂-
hilarious, solace, hilarity, 4 more
through Latin consolor ‘to console’
Another origin of console
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₂-‘mercy, comfort’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnsōlor‘to console, offer solace’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconsoler
- Englishtodayconsole
Today it means
noun A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French console / console