The Etymology of Counsel
For three centuries, counsel and council were a single English word.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ Both arrived from Old French conseil, which descended from Latin consilium β a word covering everything from private advice to a formal assembly. Medieval scribes spelled it however they pleased, and the two senses coexisted happily. It was only in the 16th century that writers began consistently distinguishing counsel (the advice or the lawyer giving it) from council (the governing body). The Latin source, consilium, came from consulere ('to deliberate'), a verb whose deeper roots are disputed but likely involve the prefix con- ('together') and an element meaning to gather or take hold of β to seize upon a decision collectively. Roman consuls took their title from the same verb, as officials who 'deliberated' on behalf of the state. In modern British legal English, counsel refers specifically to a barrister acting in court, a usage that preserves the oldest sense beautifully: the person standing before the judge is offering consilium, the considered advice that someone in trouble needs most.