Consultancy

kənˈsʌltənsi

nounIntermediate📊CommonBusiness
1 meaning2 idioms/phrases3 questions

Definitions

1

A company or organization that provides expert advice or professional services to businesses or individuals.

kənˈsʌltənsi

nounneutralIntermediate
Business

The business or practice of giving expert advice to companies or organizations.

The company hired a consultancy to restructure their marketing department.

💡 Simply: Imagine a group of super-smart helpers that companies pay to give them advice on how to do things better. That's a consultancy! They're like the brainy squad hired to solve problems and improve how a business runs.

👶 For kids: A consultancy is a grown-up company that helps other companies with advice.

More Examples

2

The report provided by the consultancy outlined several key areas for improvement.

3

She works for a leading environmental consultancy.

How It's Used

Business

"Management consultancies are often hired to improve efficiency."

Finance

"A financial consultancy can help with investment strategies."

Idioms & expressions

management consultancy

A consultancy specializing in providing expert advice to improve organizational performance and efficiency.

"The company brought in a management consultancy to assess their operational processes."

consultancy fees

The payments that a consultancy charges for its services.

"The consultancy fees were a significant expense for the project."

From the verb 'consult' (late 14th century), meaning 'to seek advice or information from someone,' ultimately from Latin 'consultare,' which means 'to deliberate, consult.' The suffix '-ancy' denotes a state or condition, thus creating the noun.

The term 'consultancy' became increasingly common in the 20th century with the rise of specialized business services.

Memory tip

Think of a company that 'consults' – provides expert advice, hence a consultancy.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"to deliberate, consult"

management consultancyenvironmental consultancyfinancial consultancyconsultancy feesleading consultancy

Common misspellings

consultencyconsulatancy

Usage

30%Spoken
70%Written