# consensus

Pronunciation: say "kuhn-SEN-suhs" /kənˈsɛnsəs/

## Noun

1. General agreement among the members of a group, where each member has some say in making the decision and carrying it out.
   - Simple: When everyone in a group agrees on something after talking it over.
   - _The neighborhood association governs by consensus, so every household helps shape the final rules._
   - _Negotiators worked through the night to build a consensus that all parties could endorse._
2. A method of making decisions that aims for wide agreement among the members of a group.
   - Simple: A way of making decisions where a group works to agree on something together.
   - _The board switched to consensus after years of bitterly divided votes._
   - _Facilitators trained the volunteers in consensus so quieter members could shape the outcome._
3. An averaged forecast figure representing the combined projection of several analysts for a particular value.
   - Simple: The average of what experts expect a number to be.
   - _Traders had priced in a higher figure, so the stock dipped when results merely matched the consensus._
   - _The economists' consensus called for two rate cuts before year's end._
4. Agreement reached among parts of a system on a single data value required during a computation.
   - Simple: An agreement between computers on a single value they all need to share.
   - _The cluster cannot proceed until its nodes reach consensus on the current leader._
   - _Network delays make consensus harder to achieve as the number of participants grows._

## Verb

5. To hold discussions aimed at reaching mutual agreement within a group.
   - Simple: To talk things over as a group, trying to get everyone to agree.
   - _Agency staff consensus with outside experts before any new guideline goes to the public._
   - _The final wording of the report was consensused by the panel over three rounds of review._

## Origin

Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus ("agreement, accordance, unanimity"), from cōnsentiō ("feel together; agree"); related to consent.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/consensus (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).