Con-sist', v. i.
v. i. [imp. & p. p. CONSISTED; p. pr. & vb. n. CONSISTING.] [Lat. consistere, from con and sistere, to stand; Fr. consister, Sp. & Pg. consistir, It. consistere.]
Sense 1. To stand firm; to be in a fixed or permanent state, as a body composed of parts in union or connection; to be; to exist; to subsist; to be supported and maintained.
He is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col. i. 17.
Sense 2. To be consistent or harmonious; to be in accordance; — usually followed by with.
This was a consisting story which was supported by collateral proofs. Burnet.
Health consists with temperance alone. Pope.
To consist in, to be constituted by; to have foundation or substance in; to lie in. “Their defection from the God of Israel . . . did not consist in the rejecting him as a false God.” Warburton. — To consist of, to be composed or made up of. “Do not our lives consist of the four elements? Faith, so they say, but I think it rather consists of eating and drinking.” Shak.
Synonyms— To CONSIST, CONSIST OF, CONSIST IN. The verb consist is employed chiefly for two purposes, which are marked and distinguished by the prepositions used. When we wish to indicate the parts which unite to compose a thing, we use of; as when we say, “Macaulay’s Miscellanies consist chiefly of articles which were first published in the Edinburgh Review.” When we wish to indicate the true nature, object, or result of a thing, we use in; as, “Our safety consists in a strict adherence to duty.” “There are some artists whose skill consists in a certain manner which they have affected.” “A great beauty of letters does often consist in little passages of private conversation, and references to particular matters.” Walsh.
The use Of such set entertainments more consists In custom than in course. Ford.