Advertisement

consume (v.)

late 14c., "to destroy by separating into parts which cannot be reunited, as by burning or eating," hence "destroy the substance of, annihilate," from Old French consumer "to consume" (12c.) and directly from Latin consumere "to use up, eat, waste," from assimilated form of com-, here probably an intensive prefix (see com-), + sumere "to take," from sub- "under" (see sub-) + emere "to buy, take" (from PIE root *em- "to take, distribute").

Specifically, "to destroy by use, wear out by applying to its natural or intended use" from c. 1400. Sense of "to engage the full attention and energy of" is from 1570s.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of consume from WordNet

consume (v.)
eat up completely, as with great appetite;
Synonyms: devour / demolish / down / go through
consume (v.)
serve oneself to, or consume regularly;
Synonyms: ingest / take in / take / have
consume (v.)
spend extravagantly;
Synonyms: squander / waste / ware
consume (v.)
destroy completely;
The fire consumed the building
consume (v.)
use up (resources or materials);
this car consumes a lot of gas
Synonyms: eat up / use up / eat / deplete / exhaust / run through / wipe out
consume (v.)
engage fully;
The effort to pass the exam consumed all his energy
From wordnet.princeton.edu