consent
Americanverb (used without object)
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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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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 )
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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
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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
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had consentedperfect
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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:
It’s worth noting that, in 2022, the Senate approved a bill for permanent daylight-saving time using a procedure known as unanimous consent.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Last week, Meta paused a new AI tool to generate images based on public Instagram accounts after users complained that people’s likeness could be used without their consent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“The blockers here are solid contractual provisions, not phantom clauses” that Hudson Bay could waive without Bed Bath & Beyond’s consent, the three-judge panel wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate," one user wrote on X, external.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
“I shall never consent to such a thing.”
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Wolford involves a Hawaiʻi law that prohibits individuals from carrying guns on private property unless the owner affirmatively consents.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
These consents, after all, are legal agreements that terminate a biological parent’s legal claim to a child and vest those rights in non-biological parents.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
In a recent update, the company has secured five transmission planning decisions since November, and will continue to focus on securing remaining consents for its projects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
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
That arrangement quietly splits the person who is being watched from the person who consented to the watching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
To the majority, every detail of that contract must be knowingly consented to by all parties who might be affected.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
When the detective asked her to take a polygraph, she consented.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
Highland Independent councillor Thomas MacLennan said the property would sit "more comfortably" in the landscape than the previously consented property.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
Papa had said we must wait until I was seventeen, but he consented to giving me those three days of dispensation.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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
But there are things you need to consider before consenting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
No coward’s eye should light by my 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.
