consensus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus (“agreement, accordance, unanimity”), from cōnsentiō (“feel together; agree”); see consent.

Noun

consensus (countable and uncountable, plural consensuses)

1. A process of decision-making that seeks widespread agreement among group members.
2. General agreement among the members of a given group or community, each of which exercises some discretion in decision-making and follow-up action.

   After years of debate over the best wine to serve at Thanksgiving, no real consensus has emerged.

3. (attributive) Average projected value.

   a financial consensus forecast

Antonyms

• dissensus

Related terms

► English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sent-‎ (1 c, 0 e)

Translations

general agreement

• Arabic: إِجْمَاع‎ (ar) m (ʾijmāʿ), تَوَافُق‎ m (tawāfuq)
• Bulgarian: съгла́сие (bg) n (sǎglásie), единоду́шие (bg) n (edinodúšie), консе́нсус m (konsénsus)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 共識 (zh), 共识 (zh) (gòngshí)

• Czech: shoda (cs) f, souhlas (cs) m, konsenzus (cs) m
• Danish: konsensus (da)
• Dutch: consensus (nl) m, eensgezindheid (nl), overeenstemming (nl)
• Esperanto: interkonsento
• Finnish: yhteisymmärrys (fi), yksimielisyys (fi), konsensus (fi)
• French: consensus (fr) m
• German: Konsens (de) m, Einvernehmen (de) n, Einigkeit (de) f, Übereinstimmung (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍃 f (samaqiss)
• Greek: ομοφωνία (el) f (omofonía), κοινή συναίνεση f (koiní synaínesi)
• Hindi: संप्रतिपत्ति (hi) f (sampratipatti)
• Hungarian: egyezség (hu)
• Indonesian: konsensus (id)
• Italian: consenso (it) m
• Japanese: 総意 (ja) (そうい, sōi), 協心 (きょうしん, kyōshin), コンセンサス (konsensasu)

• Kazakh: бәтуа (bätwa), бәтуаластық (bätwalastıq), пәтуа (pätwa), пәтуаластық (pätwalastıq)
• Korean: 합의 (ko) (habui) (合意 (ko))
• Latin: consensus m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konsensus (no) m

  Nynorsk: konsensus m

• Persian: اجماع‎ (fa) m (ejmâ')
• Polish: konsensus (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: consenso (pt) m
• Russian: консе́нсус (ru) m (konsɛ́nsus), согла́сие (ru) n (soglásije), единоду́шие (ru) n (jedinodúšije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: консѐнзус m, спо̏разӯм m

  Roman: konsènzus (sh) m, spȍrazūm (sh) m

• Slovene: dogovor
• Spanish: consenso (es) m
• Swedish: konsensus (sv)
• Turkish: oy birliği (tr)
• Ukrainian: консе́нсус m (konsénsus), зго́да f (zhóda)
• Vietnamese: sự đồng lòng, sự đồng thuận (vi), sự đồng tâm (vi), sự nhất trí (vi)

Further reading

• consensus in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• consensus in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "consensus" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 76.

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus or English consensus, itself borrowed from Latin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɔnˈsɛn.zʏs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧sen‧sus

Noun

consensus m (uncountable)

1. consensus

Synonyms

• overeenstemming

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus (“agreement, accordance, unanimity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.sɛ̃.sys/, /kɔ̃.sɑ̃.sys/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

consensus m (plural consensus)

1. consensus

Further reading

• “consensus” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Etymology

From cōnsentiō (“feel together; agree”), from con- (“together”) and sentiō (“sense; perceive; feel”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /konˈsen.sus/, [kõːˈs̠ẽːs̠ʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /konˈsen.sus/, [kɔnˈsɛnsus]

Noun

cōnsēnsus m (genitive cōnsēnsūs); fourth declension

1. Consensus, agreement, accordance, unanimity, concord.
2. A plot, conspiracy.

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cōnsēnsus	cōnsēnsūs
Genitive	cōnsēnsūs	cōnsēnsuum
Dative	cōnsēnsuī	cōnsēnsibus
Accusative	cōnsēnsum	cōnsēnsūs
Ablative	cōnsēnsū	cōnsēnsibus
Vocative	cōnsēnsus	cōnsēnsūs

Synonyms

• (concord, agreement): concentus, concordātiō, concordia, concorditās, harmonia, ūnanimitās
• (plot, conspiracy): coitiō, coniūrātiō, cōnsēnsiō, cōnspīrātiō

Related terms

• cōnsēnsiō
• cōnsentāneē
• cōnsentāneus

• cōnsentiēns
• cōnsentiō

Descendants

• → English: consensus
• → French: consensus
• → Italian: consenso

• → Portuguese: consenso
• → Romanian: consens
• → Sicilian: cunzensu
• → Spanish: consenso

Adjective

cōnsēnsus (feminine cōnsēnsa, neuter cōnsēnsum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (rare) agreed upon

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cōnsēnsus	cōnsēnsa	cōnsēnsum		cōnsēnsī	cōnsēnsae	cōnsēnsa
Genitive	cōnsēnsī	cōnsēnsae	cōnsēnsī		cōnsēnsōrum	cōnsēnsārum	cōnsēnsōrum
Dative	cōnsēnsō		cōnsēnsō		cōnsēnsīs
Accusative	cōnsēnsum	cōnsēnsam	cōnsēnsum		cōnsēnsōs	cōnsēnsās	cōnsēnsa
Ablative	cōnsēnsō	cōnsēnsā	cōnsēnsō		cōnsēnsīs
Vocative	cōnsēnse	cōnsēnsa	cōnsēnsum		cōnsēnsī	cōnsēnsae	cōnsēnsa

References

• consensus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• consensus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• consensus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• consensus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the perfect harmony of the universe: totius mundi convenientia et consensus
    
  • unanimously: uno, communi, summo or omnium consensu (Tusc. 1. 15. 35)
    
• consensus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• consensus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin