anti-consumptive
|an-ti-con-sump-tive|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.ti.kənˈsʌmp.tɪv/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.ti kənˈsʌmp.tɪv/
against consumption
Etymology
'anti-consumptive' is formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') and the adjective 'consumptive' (from Latin 'consumptivus', related to 'consumere' meaning 'to use up' or 'to consume').
'anti-' (Greek) was attached to the English adjective 'consumptive' (derived from Latin 'consumptivus' via Medieval Latin/Old French influences) to create the compound 'anti-consumptive' in Modern English, used in both social/political and medical contexts.
Originally components meant 'against' and 'to use up'; combined, the coinage initially described measures against physical 'consumption' (wasting) in medical texts and later broadened to describe opposition to economic or material consumption (opposition to consumerism).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
opposed to or designed to reduce consumption of goods, resources, or energy; critical of consumerism.
They adopted an anti-consumptive lifestyle, buying only the essentials and repairing items instead of replacing them.
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Adjective 2
(Historical/medical) Intended to prevent or treat 'consumption' (old term for tuberculosis) or to prevent wasting away.
In some 19th-century medical texts certain diets were described as anti-consumptive remedies for patients prone to wasting.
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Last updated: 2025/11/14 13:01