Consensual

How to spell consensual

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce consensual

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does consensual mean?

1. adjectiveDone or arranged with the willing agreement of everyone involved.

Consensual in a sentence

• The contract was the result of a fully consensual negotiation between both firms.

• The divorce was consensual, so the proceedings moved quickly through the court.

Where does consensual come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb consentire, meaning 'to feel together' or 'to agree', which was built from con- 'together' and sentire 'to feel, to perceive, to think'. From that verb came the noun consensus, literally a shared feeling or common agreement, and the adjective consensual was formed on that base to describe anything done by mutual consent. English adopted it relatively late, around the early nineteenth century, often in legal and medical writing where the precise idea of agreement between parties mattered. The same sentire root quietly powers a whole family of familiar words, including sense, sentiment, consent, and resent, all of which involve feeling or perceiving. Remembering that the middle is sens, the same chunk as in 'consent' and 'sense', is the surest guard against the common slip of writing it with a c as 'consensual'.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• sens (from sentire: to feel, to think)
• -ual (adjective suffix)