Consort

[Lat. consors - con, and sors, sort is, lot.] He, she, or that which shares the same lot with another; a companion; a partner; an intimate a ociate; a wife or husband;-applied in a modern sense chiefly to persons of royal degree or position, in countries where women are able to reign; as, a queen-consort; a prince consort; i. e. the wife of a reigning monarch, or spouse of a queen-regnant. ( Naut .) A term applied to a ship sailing in company with another. (Eng. Law.) The queen consort, the wife of the reign. ing king, is, in all legal proceedings, looked upon as a single, not as a married woman. She may purchase and convey lands, grant leases, and do other acts of ownership without the intervention of the king. She may also sue and be sued in her separate person, and po e es courts and officers distinct from those of the king. She pays no toll, and is free from any fine which a court could impose upon women in general; but in other re spects she is on a similar footing with the other subjects of the king. In her life and person, however, she enjoys the same protection as the king, it being high treason to design the death of either. The husband of a queen regnant is not endowed by the constitution with any distinctive rights or privileges. All his privileges and honors, therefore, must emanate from the crown, under the form of warrant, grant, patent, ., or else be conferred by act of parliament introduced after a royal me age on the subject. Up to 1857, when the title of Prince Consort was bestowed upon him by letters-patent, the late Prince Albert po e ed no distinctive title and no place in court ceremonial but such as was accorded to him by courtesy. -v. i. To partake of the same lot with another; to write in company; to keep company with; to a ociate; preceding with ; as, to consort with bad company. -v. a. To unite or join, as in affection, marriage, com pany, .