All 5 Uses of
consequence
in
The Bourne Identity
- Airplanes had crashed and revolutions had erupted bloodily; holy men had spoken only to be rebuked by other holy men; poverty and disease had been found where everyone knew they could be found, but no man of consequence had been killed.†
Chpt 11 *consequence = importance
- The consequences of disloyalty are swift in coming-death-about so, too, are the benefits of service-generous bonuses and huge expense allowances.†
Chpt 13 *consequences = results
- Why is it every time there's a killing of consequence, we ascribe it to Cain?†
Chpt 15consequence = importance
- It was an unlikely spot to hold a meeting of such consequence; there were no spinning computers to light up dark screens with green letters, no electronic communications equipment that would reach consoles in London or Paris or Istanbul.†
Chpt 22
- He had been tricked; he knew it and was not about to wait around for the consequences-which told Bourne something else.†
Chpt 32consequences = results
Definitions:
-
(1)
(consequence as in: a direct consequence of) a result of something (often an undesired side effect)
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(2)
(consequence as in: of little consequence) importance or relevance
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In classic literature, consequential may refer to someone with too much feeling of self-importance as when Dickens wrote "Because he's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-up-nosed peacock."
Self-consequence was used in a similar manner, but is more easily understood by modern readers since important is one of the modern senses of consequence.
Another classic sense of consequent that is similar to importance or significance refers to "material wealth or prominence" as when Jane Austen wrote: "They had each had money, but their marriages had made a material difference in their degree of consequence."