/ kənˈsʌltənt; NAmE / noun
1.
consultant (on sth) a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and is employed to give advice about it to other people :
a firm of management consultants
the President's consultant on economic affairs
2.
( BrE ) a hospital doctor of the highest rank who is a specialist in a particular area of medicine :
a consultant in obstetrics
a consultant surgeon
—compare registrar
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WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent. (in the sense a person who consults ): probably from French , from Latin consultare , frequentative of consulere take counsel.