Consecutus

Consecutus is a Latin term that functions both as the perfect passive participle of consequor, meaning to follow, and as an adjective meaning having followed or subsequent. It derives from the verb with the suffix -tus, indicating a completed state.

As an adjective, consecutus declines as a standard 2nd declension adjective: masculine nominative consecutus, feminine consecuta, neuter consecutum; plural masculine consecuti, feminine consecutae, neuter consecuta. It is used attributively or predicatively to describe sequence or order, and in late Latin it can also be used as a substantive meaning “the follower” or “the successor.”

Semantic usage centers on succession and order. It denotes something that comes after another thing or event, i.e., a consecutive or subsequent item. It can also describe a completed action of following or pursuing. In medieval and ecclesiastical Latin, the term appears in contexts involving rank, heredity, or transmission where one person succeeds another.

In modern scholarship and English, the corresponding adjective is consecutive, which derives from Latin consecutus via later European languages. Consecutus itself is seldom used in contemporary English-language texts, appearing mainly in discussions of Latin grammar or in historical Latin sources.

See also: consequor, consecutio, consecutive.