These words refer to discussions held to clarify a question or reach an agreement. Consult emphasizes clarification as the motive without necessarily suggesting ultimate agreement: The Prime Minister consulted his Cabinet on a variety of questions. Often the word may suggest the seeking out of an authority: Consult your dictionary when unsure of your spelling. Similarly, the word can suggest the applying of an inferior to a superior: The salesgirl said she would have to consult the supervisor about the matter. Sometimes, the word points to a secret or private discussion: Have you thought of consulting a psychiatrist? Confer also emphasizes clarification more than agreement, but here the notion of inferior and superior is less often present. What is stressed is the exchanging of views: union meetings at which the management could confer with the men about work problems. The word may suggest intimate and informal but not necessarily secret discussion: The coach sat conferring with the trainer.

Negotiate and parley are restricted to situations in which the main motive is the attempt to reach agreement between opposing sides or positions. Both words suggest formal meetings. Parley comes from a French word, meaning to speak, and applies to actual enemies attempting or resolve differences through words rather than force: Representatives of the French and English kings parleyed on the battlefield. The word calls to mind the vanished world of warring European kingdoms and is less often used for comparable contemporary situations. The preferred word now is negotiate ; it applies to any formal meeting of opposing sides to settle their differences through compromise rather than through force or some other form of direct action or confrontation.

• Labour and management finally negotiated a settlement after two weeks of gruelling bargaining, thus averting a strike; The Secretary-General urged both sides to negotiate a settlement to the bloody war.