I have been searching various cemeteries in central PA and occassionally come across headstones that will read "Consort of" suchas as: Rebecca consort of John....

What does that mean? Would she be an unmarried woman who lived with the man mentioned on the tombstone and held the status of girlfreind or lover or does it mean something else entirely?

I now ask because I've found it on a headstone of an ancestor.

I was always under the impression that she was the spouse of the man mentioned. I'm from PA and see that alot, do you not see it elsewhere?

Crystal

Definition of CONSORT
1
: associate
2
: a ship accompanying another
3
: spouse — compare prince consort, queen consort
Origin of CONSORT
Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin consort-, consors partner, sharer, from com- + sort-, sors lot, share — more at series
First Known Use: 15th century

Often referred to a woman companion of a married man who bore his children.

I believe consort means that a the woman died while her husband was still living. Relict means that her husband pre-deceased her and she had not remarried.

The use of the term consort varies and the status of the person as a husband or wife is questionable, but in Victorian times it was usually used as a fancy way to say wife or husband. This was patterned after Queen Victoria's husband Albert who was a prince consort. As with many things people imitate royalty or celebrities.