consent
Americanverb (used without object)
-
consents,
present (3rd person singular)
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consented,
past participle, past
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consenting
present participle
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to permit, approve, or agree; comply or yield (often followed by to or an infinitive).
He consented to the proposal. We asked her permission, and she consented.
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Archaic. to agree in sentiment, opinion, etc.; be in harmony.
noun
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consents
plural
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permission, approval, or agreement; sanction; acquiescence.
He gave his consent to the marriage.
- Synonyms:
- concurrence, accord
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agreement in sentiment, opinion, a course of action, etc..
By common consent he was appointed official delegate.
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Archaic. accord; concord; harmony.
verb
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to give assent or permission (to do something); agree; accede
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obsolete (intr) to be in accord; agree in opinion, feelings, etc
noun
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acquiescence to or acceptance of something done or planned by another; permission
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accordance or harmony in opinion; agreement (esp in the phrase with one consent )
-
the lowest age at which the law recognizes the right of a person to consent to sexual intercourse
Synonym Usage
See agree.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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consenternoun
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nonconsentnoun
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preconsentnoun
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reconsentverb (used without object)
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consentingadjective
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nonconsentingadjective
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unconsentingadjective
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consentinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
consentsimple
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consentssimple
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have consentedperfect
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has consentedperfect
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am consentingprogressive
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are consentingprogressive
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is consentingprogressive
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have been consentingperfect progressive
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has been consentingperfect progressive
Past
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consentedsimple
-
had consentedperfect
-
was consentingprogressive
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were consentingprogressive
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had been consentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consent
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb consenten, concenten, from Anglo-French, Old French consentir, from Latin consentīre “to join or share a feeling; concur”; noun derivative of the verb; see consensus
Explanation
Before you have surgery, you'd better give your consent, because the surgeon can't get his scalpel anywhere near your skin without first getting this permission from you. Consent is permission that can be given or taken away. On the night of the school dance, your parents might consent to extend your curfew by an hour. A homeowner who won't give a developer consent to tear down her house and build a shopping mall might finally consent after receiving a very large check from the developer.
Vocabulary lists containing consent
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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The Bill of Rights
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Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I did not give my consent to any Trustee of my Trust to withhold, defer, or retain my Age-30 Distribution indefinitely,” Reiner said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
A person’s information can’t be released or shared without their consent, subject to limited exceptions.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
"Opting people in by default is not consent," a user said in one of the tamer responses to Twitch's announcement on X.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The companies plan to seek resource consent for a 250-megawatt data center near the site of Contact’s closed Taranaki Combined Cycle gas power plant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
He drew up a petition, had it signed by a hundred students, and demanded an all-school training workshop on consent.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
He said the company is still seeking relevant licenses and legal consents, so they do not have a launch date and it "may take some time".
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
But if biological mothers and fathers are constitutionally forbidden from transferring parental rights, then many adoption consents are null and void.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to conditions, including regulatory approvals, client consents and the support of Janus Henderson’s shareholders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
And he can remain on our soil only when the sovereign — in the U.S., that’s “We the People” — consents to it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025
He consents without a murmur, all join in a joyful chorus, and the curtain falls upon the lovers kneeling to receive Don Pedro’s blessing in attitudes of the most romantic grace.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
They wrote For the People who consented to be governed by it, which includes you.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
He said this direction was with the consent of the government, which also now consented to giving her the documents back.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Ecuador said that its officials had not consented to ICE entering the consulate.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Gaytan claimed he took no part in the robbery, but after he consented to a search of his phone, Simonyan said she found text messages sent to one of the alleged gunmen, Eduardo “Active” Lopez.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2025
She consented to pause, floating a few inches from the ground.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
He suggests Washington’s funding could require state officers “to enter separate contracts with the federal government consenting to answer suits under RLUIPA.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
If a journalist wants an on-the-record interview with someone in Objection’s orbit, they are asked to sign an agreement consenting in advance to the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
“If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here,” the U.S. senator said during a congressional hearing.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026
It would later emerge in evidence that investigating Warwickshire officers had agreed with him that they could hear her "laughing and consenting".
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
As we were men we could not help consenting.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
