A royal consort is a person of either sex who has an official status through an intimate relationship, often through marriage or concubinage, with a monarch.
[1] The term, consort, was thereafter extended to encompass similar relationships with other significant figures, such as a head of state.
[2] However, the word itself originates from the Latin term "consors", meaning "partner", and can be used in everyday English as a synonym for "partner", or as a verb meaning "to associate".
[3] In more recent usage it has been noted that the term, "though literally denoting a partner or spouse, is a heavily loaded term, for a consort is usually implied to be a mere appendage, far inferior in power and status to his or her spouse".
[11][12][13] In certain polytheistic religions such as Hinduism, female analogues to the main deities have often been described as consorts.