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4 dictionary results for: consensus
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
con·sen·sus       [kuhn-sen-suhs] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -sus·es.
1.majority of opinion: The consensus of the group was that they should meet twice a month.
2.general agreement or concord; harmony.
[Origin: 1850–55; < L, equiv. to consent(īre) to be in agreement, harmony (con- con- + sentīre to feel; cf. sense) + -tus suffix of v. action]

—Usage note 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, esp. in the phrase consensus politics.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
con·sen·sus       (kən-sěn'səs)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole: "Among political women . . . there is a clear consensus about the problems women candidates have traditionally faced" (Wendy Kaminer). See Usage Note at redundancy.
  2. General agreement or accord: government by consensus.


[Latin cōnsēnsus, from past participle of cōnsentīre, to agree; see consent.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
consensus

noun
agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole; "the lack of consensus reflected differences in theoretical positions"; "those rights and obligations are based on an unstated consensus" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Consensus

Con*sen"sus\, n. [L. See Consent.] Agreement; accord; consent.

That traditional consensus of society which we call public opinion. --Tylor.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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