Inform vs Consult - What's the difference?
inform | consult |
(archaic) To instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge).
To communicate knowledge to.
* Spenser
* Shakespeare
To impart information or knowledge.
To act as an informer; denounce.
To give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= * Dryden
* Prior
(obsolete) To make known, wisely and/or knowledgeably.
(obsolete) To direct, guide.
(archaic) To take form; to become visible or manifest; to appear.
* Shakespeare
Without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.
(obsolete): The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consultation; determination; decision.
(obsolete): A council; a meeting for consultation.
(obsolete): Agreement; concert.
(US): A visit, e.g. to a doctor; a consultation.
To seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer.
To advise or offer expertise.
To work as a consultant or contractor rather than as a full-time employee of a firm.
To ask advice of; to seek the opinion of; to apply to for information or instruction; to refer to; as, to consult a physician; to consult a dictionary.
To have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes.
(obsolete): To deliberate upon; to take for.
(obsolete): To bring about by counsel or contrivance; to devise; to contrive.
In transitive terms the difference between inform and consult
is that inform is to give form or character to; to inspire (with a given quality); to affect, influence (with a pervading principle, idea etc.) while consult is to have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes.In intransitive terms the difference between inform and consult
is that inform is to impart information or knowledge while consult is to work as a consultant or contractor rather than as a full-time employee of a firm.As verbs the difference between inform and consult
is that inform is to instruct, train (usually in matters of knowledge) while consult is to seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer.As an adjective inform
is without regular form; shapeless; ugly; deformed.As a noun consult is
: The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consultation; determination; decision.inform
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) informen, enformen, from (etyl) enformer, .Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- For he would learn their business secretly, / And then inform his master hastily.
- I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution, passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.}}
- Let others better mould the running mass / Of metals, and inform the breathing brass.
- Breath informs this fleeting frame.
- It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes.
Synonyms
* acquaint, apprise, notify * (act as informer) dob, name names, peach, snitchDerived terms
* informant * information * informative * informatory * informed * informer * misinform * uninformedEtymology 2
(etyl) (lena) informisAdjective
(-)- (Cotton)
Anagrams
*consult
English
Alternative forms
* consultation (Only noun form in UK)Noun
(en noun)- The council broke; And all grave consults dissolved in smoke. -.
- A consult of coquettes. -.
Usage notes
* The noun consult is avoided in British English, favoring consultation instead. In AmE, they are merely synonyms.Synonyms
* consultationVerb
(en verb)- Let us consult upon to-morrow's business. -
- All the laws of England have been made by the kings of England, consulting with the nobility and commons. - .
- Men forgot, or feared, to consult''' ... ; they were content to '''consult libraries. - .
- We are ... to consult the necessities of life, rather than matters of ornament and delight. -L'Estrange.
- Many things were there consulted for the future, yet nothing was positively resolved. -.
- Thou hast consulted shame to thy use by cutting off many people. - Bible, Heb. ii. 10.
