What does consumption mean?
Consumption is the act of using up or taking in something — whether fuel, food, electricity, or manufactured goods — and it sits at the heart of modern debates about economics and sustainability. When economists speak of consumer spending, or environmentalists warn about rising resource use, they are describing consumption: the process by which raw materials, energy, and products are absorbed, spent, or destroyed in meeting human needs. The word also has a poignant historical sense: for centuries, 'consumption' was the common name for pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease whose gradual wasting of the body seemed to consume its victims from the inside — an association that lingers in Victorian novels and films. Today, phrases such as 'energy consumption', 'food consumption', and 'conspicuous consumption' keep the word firmly in public discourse, making it essential vocabulary for understanding how societies use — and overuse — what their world provides.
The action or amount of using, eating, or drinking something; the utilization of resources or goods.
"The country's per-capita energy consumption is among the highest in Europe."
Most commonly used in formal, economic, environmental, and health contexts rather than casual conversation.
(Historical medicine) Pulmonary tuberculosis, formerly named for the way the illness seemed to consume the body.
"Her grandmother's letters describe losing two siblings to consumption before the war."
Now chiefly historical or literary; replaced in medical usage by 'tuberculosis' or 'TB'.
Rarely pluralised in practice; the singular covers almost all uses, since 'consumption' typically denotes a general activity or total amount rather than countable instances.
"The report compared the fuel consumptions of several vehicle classes."
Before doctors understood tuberculosis, they simply called it 'consumption' — the disease that appeared to consume its victims from within.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of consumption
Consumption derives from the Latin verb consumere, formed from com- ('together') and sumere ('to take, use up'), meaning to use up entirely or destroy. It entered English via Old French in the late Middle English period (14th century), initially carrying both the general sense of wasting or using up and the specific medical sense of a wasting disease. The Latin root also gives English words such as consume, consumer, consummate, and sumptuary, all sharing the idea of taking or spending.
Related word forms
How consumption is actually used
In modern usage 'consumption' most often appears in economic, environmental, and health contexts (energy consumption, meat consumption, responsible consumption). Its historical medical meaning ('consumption' as tuberculosis) survives mainly in older texts and period drama, and may confuse modern readers. In everyday speech people more often say 'use', 'eating', or 'drinking'; 'consumption' carries a slightly formal, technical register.
Easily confused with consumption
Assumption means something taken for granted or accepted without proof, whereas consumption refers to the act of using up resources.
Consummation means the completion or fulfilment of something (especially a marriage), while consumption is the using-up of goods or energy.