Consumer
/kənˈsuːmər/noun
A person or thing that uses up goods, services, or resources.
Did you know?Consumer comes from Latin consumere, meaning “to take up, destroy, or waste away,” built from con- (“altogether”) + sumere (“to take”), so the word literally carries the energy of total consumption.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*seh₂-
“to take, seize”
Latin
Latin
sumere
“to take up, take, obtain”
Latin
Latin
consumere
“to use up, waste, destroy”
14th Century
Middle English
consumer
“one who uses up or wastes”
Modern English
English
consumer
“a person who purchases and uses goods and services”