The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Consolidation \Con*sol`i*da"tion\, n. [L. consolidatio a
   confirming: cf. F. consolidation.]
   1. The act or process of consolidating, making firm, or
      uniting; the state of being consolidated; solidification;
      combination.
      [1913 Webster]

            The consolidation of the marble and of the stone did
            not fall out at random.               --Woodward.
      [1913 Webster]

            The consolidation of the great European monarchies.
                                                  --Hallam.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Bot.) To organic cohesion of different circled in a
      flower; adnation.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Law) The combination of several actions into one.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

consolidation
    n 1: combining into a solid mass
    2: the act of combining into an integral whole; "a consolidation
       of two corporations"; "after their consolidation the two
       bills were passed unanimously"; "the defendants asked for a
       consolidation of the actions against them" [syn:
       consolidation, integration]
    3: something that has consolidated into a compact mass; "he
       dropped the consolidation into the acid bath"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

160 Moby Thesaurus words for "consolidation":
   Anschluss, abbreviation, accelerando, acceleration, accretion,
   addition, adherence, adhesion, affiliation, agglomeration,
   agglutination, aggravation, aggregation, alliance, amalgamation,
   assimilation, association, astriction, astringency, beefing-up,
   blend, blending, blowing up, blowup, bottleneck, cabal, cahoots,
   cartel, centralization, cervix, circumscription, cling, clinging,
   clotting, clumping, clustering, coadunation, coagulation,
   coalescence, coalition, coarctation, coherence, cohesion,
   cohesiveness, colleagueship, collegialism, collegiality,
   combination, combine, combo, compactedness, compaction,
   composition, compression, compressure, comradeship, concentration,
   concretion, condensation, confederacy, confederation,
   confraternity, congealment, congelation, congeries, conglobation,
   conglomeration, conjugation, conjunction, conspiracy, constriction,
   constringency, contraction, contracture, copartnership, copartnery,
   curtailment, decrease, deepening, densification, diminuendo,
   ecumenism, embodiment, encompassment, enhancement, enosis,
   exacerbation, exaggeration, explosion, federalization, federation,
   fellowship, fraternalism, fraternity, fraternization, freemasonry,
   fusion, hardening, heating-up, heightening, hookup, hourglass,
   hourglass figure, inclusion, incorporation, information explosion,
   inseparability, integration, intensification, isthmus, junction,
   junta, knitting, league, magnification, marriage, meld, melding,
   mergence, merger, merging, narrow place, narrowing, neck, package,
   package deal, partnership, pickup, population explosion, puckering,
   pursing, redoubling, reduction, reinforcement, set, shortening,
   sodality, solidification, sorority, speedup, step-up, sticking,
   stranglement, strangulation, strengthening, striction, stricture,
   syncretism, syndication, syneresis, synthesis, systole, tie-in,
   tie-up, tightening, unification, union, wasp waist, wedding,
   wrinkling



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONSOLIDATION, civil law. The union of the usufruct with the estate out of
which it issues, in the same person which happens when the usufructuary
acquires the estate, or vice versa. In either case the usufruct is extinct.
In the common law this is called a merger. Ley. El. Dr. Rom. 424. U. S. Dig.
tit. Actions, V.
     2. Consolidation may take place in two ways: first, by the usufructuary
surrendering his right to the proprietor, which in the common law is called
a surrender; secondly, by the release of the. proprietor of his rights to
the usufructuary, which in our law is called a release.