consound

English

Alternative forms

• consounde (obsolete)

Etymology 1

Inherited from the Middle English consoude, consowde, consol, consold, consaud, consaude, from the Old English consolde, borrowed from the Old French consolde, consoulde, consoude, inherited from the Latin cōnsolida (“common confrey”), so called because of its supposed healing power.

Noun

consound

1. (botany, obsolete) Any of several healing plants of the genera Symphytum, Consolida, Ajuga, Bellis, etc., especially comfrey.
   • 1725, Noel Chomel, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary‎^[1]:

     a Plant commonly call’d the Great Consound or Comfrey; it has Stems which grow two or three Foot high: The Leaves are great, large, hairy, and of a dark Green; […] The small Consound is the most proper for healing of Wounds.

References

• “consound”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Etymology 2

See confound.

Verb

consound (no third-person singular simple present, no present participle, simple past and past participle consounded)

1. (rare, archaic) Alternative form of confound: to damn
   • 1876, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer‎^[2], Chapter X:

     “You bad!” and Huckleberry began to snuffle too. “Consound it, Tom Sawyer, you’re just old pie, ’longside o’ what I am. Oh, lordy, lordy, lordy, I wisht I only had half your chance.”

   • 1880, Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad‎^[3], page 39:

     He held his eye there as much as a minute; then he raised up and sighed, and says, ‘Consound it, I don't seem to understand this thing, no way; however, I'll tackle her again.’

See also

• consarn