Counsell

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person professionally engaged in offering advice and emotional support for issues related to personal, social, or psychological well-being
2. An individual who offers expert advice and emotional assistance to help people address personal or psychological matters
3. Someone skilled in giving counsel and support to improve mental health or resolve social difficulties

Etymology: "Counsell" is simply an obsolete spelling of "counsel", so its story is the story of "counsel" itself. The noun came into Middle English as "counseil" and "conseil" from Old French "conseil", which descends from Latin "consilium". That Latin word meant deliberation, plan or advice, and its ultimate origin is unknown. Some scholars suggest it may combine "com-" with "calo", a verb for calling or summoning, perhaps through a variant of "concilium" meaning assembly, while others connect it to "consulo", to consult. The sense of a trained advisor in the modern sense is an extension of that core idea of deliberation. Medieval English kept the noun and its companion verb, "counseilen", which came from Old French "conseiller" and Latin "consilior", both built on the same "consilium" root. A counsel was therefore first a plan or considered opinion, and only later a person who gives it.

Synonyms: advisor, counselor