consequential

Consequential is an English adjective used to describe something that follows as a result or that is of significant importance. It can refer to outcomes, effects, or implications that arise from a action, decision, or event. In general usage, a consequential decision or policy is one that has notable or lasting consequences.

Etymology traces the word to the Latin consequens, meaning “following,” from con- (together) and su- (to follow). It entered English via the senses and influences of French and later English usage. The term is often contrasted with consecutive, which refers to items following in a sequence or order, rather than to cause and effect or significance.

In philosophy, consequentialism is a family of ethical theories that evaluate actions by their outcomes rather than by motives or intrinsic properties. A consequentialist assessment focuses on whether the results of an action are good or bad. A person described as consequential may be thought of as emphasizing the importance of outcomes, though the word is also used more broadly outside philosophy.

Conclusions, policies, and events are described as consequential when they have important, far-reaching effects. The term can be paired with related forms such as consequence (the result), Consequentialism (the ethical theory), and consequentialist (one who adheres to consequentialist reasoning). It is distinct from consequent in formal logic or mathematics, where consequent denotes a following statement or result, and from consecutive, which concerns order in a sequence.