an official appointed by the government of one country to look after its commercial interests and the welfare of its citizens in another country.
2.
either of the two chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic.
3.
French History. one of the three supreme magistrates of the First Republic during the period 1799–1804.
Origin: 1350–1400;Middle English < Latin; traditionally taken to be a derivative of consulere to consult, but orig. and interrelationship of both words is unclear
late 14c., from L. consul "magistrate in ancient Rome," probably originally "one who consults the Senate," from consulere "to deliberate, take counsel" (see consultation). Modern sense began with use as appellation of various foreign officials and magistrates, "a representative
chosen by a community of merchants living in a foreign country; an agent appointed by a government or ruler to represent the interests of its subjects and traders in a foreign place" (c.1600), an extended sense that developed 13c. in the Sp. form of the word.