consigliere

See also: Consigliere

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian consigliere, from Italian consiglio (“advice", counsel”), from Latin cōnsilium (“council”). Entered the popular English lexicon through Mario Puzo's “Godfather” novels and the subsequent films made from them.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kɔn.sɪlˈjɛɹ.eɪ/, /kɑn.sɪl.iˈɛɹ.i/, /koʊn-/, /kɑn.sɪɡ.liˈɛɹ.eɪ/

Noun

consigliere (plural consiglieri or consiglieres)

1. A counselor or advisor, especially to Mafia bosses.
   • 1972, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, spoken by Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando):

     Tom, I advised Michael. I never thought you were a bad consigliere. I thought Santino was a bad Don, rest in peace. Michael has all my confidence as do you. But there are reasons why you must have nothing to do with what's going to happen.

   • 2007 May 13, Patrick Healy, “In New Role, Senator Clinton’s Strategist in Chief”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     He [Bill Clinton] is the master strategist behind the scenes; the consigliere to the head of “the family,” as some Clinton aides refer to her operation; and a fund-raising machine who is steadily pulling in $100,000 or more at receptions.

   • 2017 January 24, Eric Levitz, “Trump Aides Keep Leaking Embarrassing Stories About How He Can’t Handle Embarrassment”, in New York Magazine‎^[2]:

     Jared Kushner tried to prevent [Kellyanne] Conway from being invited into the White House at all, because he viewed her “as a possible threat to his role as Trump’s chief consigliere.”

   • 2021 August 6, Gaby Hinsliff, “Johnson’s muddle over Covid is a foretaste of his thinking on climate change.”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     What we’re seeing on the climate crisis looks, in other words, wearily familiar: a combination of Boris Johnson’s allergy to taking unpopular decisions, plus a preference for working in what his old consigliere Dominic Cummings calls an atmosphere of chaos, where nobody is entirely sure what their mercurial boss wants or stands for, and thus finds it harder to oppose him.

See also

• éminence grise
• svengali

References

• “consigliere”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “consigliere”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “consigliere”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “consigliere”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Further reading

• consigliere on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian consigliere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɔn.silˈjeː.rə/, /ˌkɔn.si.liˈeː.rə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧si‧gli‧ere
• Rhymes: -eːrə

Noun

consigliere m (plural consiglieri)

1. a legal counsel and advisor of a crime boss, in particular in the mafia

Italian

Etymology

From consiglio +‎ -iere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kon.siʎˈʎɛ.re/
• Rhymes: -ɛre
• Hyphenation: con‧si‧gliè‧re

Noun

consigliere m or f by sense (plural consiglieri, feminine consigliera)

1. adviser
2. councillor

Derived terms

• consigliere comunale (“town councillor”)
• consigliere delegato (“managing director”)
• consigliere d'amministrazione (“board member”)

Related terms

• consigliabile
• consigliare
• consiglio
• consiliare

Descendants

• → English: consigliere

Anagrams

• glicerinose