consultant

/kənˈsʌltnt/

/kənˈsʌltɪnt/

Other forms: consultants

A consultant is an expert in a particular field. Sometimes a business will rely on the guidance of a consultant to help change its image.

How did the word consultant come about? Consult dates to the 1520s and comes from the French word consultare, meaning "take advice of." The related noun consultant, to mean someone qualified to give advice, is believed to have first appeared in an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story.

Definitions of consultant

1. noun

   an expert who gives advice
   synonyms: adviser, advisor

   types:

   amicus curiae, friend of the court

   an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case; usually someone who wants to influence the outcome of a lawsuit involving matters of wide public interest

   backroom boy, brain truster

   an expert adviser involved in making important decisions but usually lacking official status

   beauty consultant

   someone who gives you advice about your personal appearance

   counsellor, counselor

   someone who gives advice about problems

   agricultural agent, county agent, extension agent

   an advisor employed by the government to assist people in rural areas with methods of farming and home economics

   fashion consultant, fashionmonger

   someone who advises you about fashionable clothing

   investment adviser, investment advisor

   someone who advises others how to invest their money

   management consultant

   adviser to business about efficient management practices

   media consultant, media guru

   someone who advises about the use of communication media

   military adviser, military advisor

   a military officer who serves as an adviser to the troops of an allied nation

   security consultant

   an adviser about alarm systems to prevent burglaries

   starets

   a religious adviser (not necessarily a priest) in the Eastern Orthodox Church

   tipster, tout

   one who sells advice about gambling or speculation (especially at the racetrack)

   Dutch uncle

   a counselor who admonishes frankly and sternly

   racetrack tout

   someone who offers advice about betting on horses (either to influence the odds or in the hope of sharing some of the winnings)

   type of:

   authority

   an expert whose views are taken as definitive