Origin: Latin suffix -ence
Consequence has 5 different meanings across 1 category:
the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual
"He faced the serious consequence of his reckless driving when he was fined and lost his license."
having important effects or influence
"decisions of great consequence are made by the president himself"
"virtue is of more moment than security"
"that result is of no consequence"
That which follows something on which it depends; that which is produced by a cause.
"The lack of rain had a severe consequence in the form of widespread crop failures across the region."
In plain English: A consequence is something that happens as a result of an action you take.
"He stayed up all night studying to avoid any bad consequences on his exam results."
Usage: Use the noun form to describe an event resulting from a previous action rather than using it as a synonym for "result." When referring to punishment in this context, ensure you specify what negative outcome follows the behavior.
To threaten or punish (a child, etc.) with specific consequences for misbehaviour.
"The teacher decided to give the student a strict consequence for disrupting the class."
In plain English: To have something bad happen because of your actions is to face the consequences, but as a verb it means causing someone else to suffer or be punished for their mistakes. Wait, that's two clauses and slightly complex. Let me try again strictly adhering to "one simple sentence" with the most common everyday meaning where 'consequence' acts transitively (causing something). Actually, in modern teen slang and general usage, people rarely use "to consequence someone." They usually say "face consequences." The prompt asks for the verb form. If I must define it as a verb: To make someone suffer or be punished because of what they did is to give them a consequence. That feels clunky. Let's look at the core definition again. As a verb, it means "to cause (someone) to have something bad happen." Simple version: To force someone to deal with the results of their actions by making things go wrong for them. Let's try to find the absolute simplest way a teen would get this without sounding like a dictionary. Actually, the most common usage is intransitive ("face consequences"). But if forced as transitive... Maybe I should focus on the result aspect. "To make something bad happen because of an"
"The teacher did not let his bad behavior have any consequence on the rest of the class's grades."
The word entered English through the path of Middle and Old French before arriving from Latin consequentia. Although it can be broken down into parts meaning "following in order," this specific noun form comes directly from that original sense rather than being formed anew within English or French.