consensus

[kuhn-sen-suhs]

noun

plural

consensuses 

1. majority of opinion.

   The consensus of the group was that they should meet twice a month.

2. general agreement or concord; harmony.

consensus

/ kənˈsɛnsəs /

noun

1. general or widespread agreement (esp in the phrase consensus of opinion )

Usage

Many say that the phrase consensus of opinion is redundant and hence should be avoided: The committee's statement represented a consensus of opinion. The expression is redundant, however, only if consensus is taken in the sense “majority of opinion” rather than in its equally valid and earlier sense “general agreement or concord.” Criticism of consensus of opinion has been so persistent and widespread that the phrase, even though in common use, occurs only infrequently in edited formal writing. The phrase general consensus is objected to for similar reasons. Consensus is now widely used attributively, especially in the phrase consensus politics.

Since consensus refers to a collective opinion, the words of opinion in the phrase consensus of opinion are redundant and should therefore be avoided

Word History and Origins

Origin of consensus¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from Latin, from consentīre “to be in agreement, share a feeling,” from con- con- + sentīre “to feel” ( sense )

Word History and Origins

Origin of consensus¹

C19: from Latin, from consentīre to feel together, agree; see _consent

Example Sentences

The opposite is also true: If consensus isn’t reached, there could be annual reviews with the same goal until 2036.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Delegates also reached consensus on working towards "just, comprehensive, and lasting peace" in Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the "Occupied Palestinian Territory".

Read more on BBC

The summit was a reality check on just how much global consensus has broken down over what to do about climate change.

Read more on BBC

We cut the list of 76 companies to 66 for which consensus estimates through 2027 were available from groups of at least five analysts.

Read more on MarketWatch

With the release of its third version this week, Google’s Gemini large language model surged past ChatGPT and other competitors to become the most capable AI chatbot, as determined by consensus industry-benchmark tests.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• accord 
• consent 
• harmony 
• unanimity 
• unity