consolatory

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈsɒl.ət.(ə)ɹ.i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kənˈsoʊl.ə.tɔɹ.i/, /kənˈsɑl.ə.tɔɹ.i/

Adjective

consolatory (comparative more consolatory, superlative most consolatory)

1. Which consoles.
   • 1523, John Skelton, “The quene of fame to dame Pallas”, in A ryght delectable treatyse upon a goodly garlande or chapelet of laurell‎^[1]:

     […] where in he reporteth of the coragius
     wordes that were moch consolatory […]

   • 1649, John Donne, Fifty Sermons, London: M.F., J. Marriot and R. Royston, Volume 2, “Sermon XVII. Preached at Lincolns Inne,” p. 140,^[2]

     Where then is the restorative, the consolatory nature of these words? In this, beloved, consists our comfort […]

   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France‎^[3], London: J. Dodsley, page 123:

     The punishment of real tyrants is a noble and awful act of justice; and it has with truth been said to be consolatory to the human mind.

   • 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter 12, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC:

     “It is singularly reviving after such hurricanes to feel calm return, and from the opening clouds to receive a consolatory gleam, softly testifying that the sun is not quenched.”

   • 1964, Hortense Calisher, “A Christmas Carillon”, in Extreme Magic: A Novella and Other Stories‎^[4], Boston: Little, Brown, page 64:

     Supper had been eaten, the turkey had been trussed, the children at last persuaded into their beds. That was the consolatory side of family life, Grorley thought—the long, Olympian codas of the emotions were cut short by the niggling detail.

Derived terms

• consolatorily
• consolatoriness

Translations

which consoles

• Bulgarian: утешителен (bg) (utešitelen)
• French: consolatoire (fr), consolatif (fr) m
• Latin: consōlātōrius

Noun

consolatory (plural consolatories)

1. That which consoles; a speech or writing intended for consolation.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 658-662, in Paradise Regain’d […] to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, pp. 43-44,^[5]

     Consolatories writ

     With studied argument, and much perswasion sought

     Lenient of grief and anxious thought,

     But with' afflicted in his pangs thir sound

     Little prevails,

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XLVIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 189:

     How is it possible to imagine, that a woman, who has all these consolatories to reflect upon, will die of a broken heart?