Consented

How to spell consented

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce consented

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does consented mean?

1. verbGave permission or agreed to something, especially after being asked.

Consented in a sentence

• She consented to the surgery after the doctor explained the risks.

• The board consented to the merger only after weeks of negotiation.

Where does consented come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb consentire, which literally meant 'to feel together' or 'to agree in feeling', built from con- meaning 'together' and sentire meaning 'to feel' or 'to perceive'. The idea was that two parties who reached agreement were, in effect, feeling the same way about a matter. English took the word through Old French consentir during the 1200s and 1300s, and the past-tense form 'consented' developed naturally with the regular -ed ending. The same sentire root sits inside a whole family of familiar words such as 'sense', 'sentiment', 'sentence', and 'resent', all of which trace back to feeling or perceiving. Knowing that the middle is the 'sent' of 'sentiment' rather than the 'cent' of money helps fix the spelling, since the trap is the unstressed schwa in the first syllable that tempts writers toward 'consen-' or even 'concented'.

How the word is built

• con- (together, with)
• sent (from sentire: to feel, perceive)
• -ed (past tense)