A consul is an official who is sent by his or her government to live in a foreign city in order to look after all the people there that belong to his or her own country.
The British Consul helped her to return to England.
consul in British English
(ˈkɒnsəl)
noun
1.
an official appointed by a sovereign state to protect its commercial interests and aid its citizens in a foreign city
2.
(in ancient Rome) either of two annually elected magistrates who jointly exercised the highest authority in the republic
3.
(in France from 1799 to 1804) any of the three chief magistrates of the First Republic
Derived forms
consular (ˈkɒnsjʊlə)
adjective
consulship (ˈconsulˌship)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Latin, from consulere to consult
consul in American English
(ˈkɑnsəl)
noun
1.
either of the two chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic
2.
one of the three highest officials of the French republic from 1799 to 1804
3.
a person appointed by a government to aid and serve its citizens and business interests in a foreign city
Derived forms
consular (ˈconsular) (ˈkɑnsələr)
adjective
consulship (ˈconsulˌship)
noun
Word origin
OFr < L consulere, to deliberate, take counsel: see consult
Examples of 'consul' in a sentence
consul
Consul officials in Orlando are helping them.
The Sun (2011)
The French ambassador and consul general also deny it.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He told the French consul that he had lost his passport and was given a new one.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The former British consul had also been attacked in the city.
The Sun (2013)
As British consul he was not only friendless now but surrounded by murmurs of hostility.
Philip Marsden The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy (2007)
The tent flaps lifted, and the new British consul ducked through them.
Philip Marsden The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy (2007)
A better option would have been to ask the British consul in the area in which we were buying to recommend English-speaking lawyer.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
consul
British English: consul /ˈkɒnsl/ NOUN
A consul is a government official who lives in a foreign city and looks after all the people there who are from his or her own country.