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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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.
Users who link joint or custodial accounts to the chatbot may inadvertently reveal confidential financial information about their spouse or children without their consent, Bellini said.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 1, 2026
But Winocour finds calm hidden beneath the unrest, a moment to pause and breathe, just to feel alive as life forges on without our consent.
From Salon • Jun. 29, 2026
"Before 2024 we had conflicting pieces of legislation one of which – the Customary Marriage Act – allowed parents to give their consent if the bride was a minor."
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
But the question isn’t the “form” of consent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
She would go to the school at siesta time with the consent of her parents, to whom Pilar Ternera had paid the other half of her savings.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
