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Glite Dictionary
to consist in

to consist in

5 6.6
To have something as the main quality or source
  • phrasal verb
  • /kənˈsɪst ɪn/
  • Formal
translation icon : consistir en
  • Socrates said the only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing.
  • salvation consists in
  • freedom consists in
  • instruction consists in

So this is what courage consists in for Plato.

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Examples

  • Part of scientific understanding consists in knowing what is not science.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Field science consists in knowing, art consists in doing.

  • The happiness of the village consists in not having any officials about trying to see how their orders are carried out.

  • In the Christian tradition, freedom consists in responding to a call to relationship with God and other human persons.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Freedom, by contrast, consists in the acceptance of our mortality.

  • So this is what courage consists in for Plato.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • Just such a virtue is exhibited in the Socratic saying that wisdom consists in knowing what one does not know.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Or as Albert Schweitzer expressed it: "Humanitarianism consists in never sacrificing a human being to a purpose."

    Blog text (19)

  • Scientific knowledge consists in understanding the principles that govern the natural world.

  • True happiness consists in appreciating the simple moments in life.

Synonyms

to reside
vsto consist in
  • Formal
52 4.0

To be a quality or power present in something

specifies the idea as an essential embodied quality rather than just present
to inhere in
vsto consist in
  • Formal
1 9.4

To be a natural and necessary part of something

has identical meaning but uses a different phrasal form

Surface Forms

consist in infinitive
consisted in past
consisted in past participle
consisting in present participle
consists in third person singular

Morphology

consist + in

The sense of 'consist in' (‘to have as an essential element’) is partly inferable from 'consist' (to be formed from parts) combined with the locative/prepositional sense of 'in' — it conveys where something 'lies' conceptually. However the abstract, conventionalized sense and the specific prepositional collocation (consist in vs. consist of) are not fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Consist in comes from a simple picture: the important part sits in the whole, like a bright stone in a ring that gives the ring its value. So, to say something 'consists in' another thing means that inner part is the thing's real, main quality.