consensuses

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of consensus.

   Comparing the consensuses of several expert committees revealed real disagreement.

   Over the decade, the field produced a string of shifting consensuses on the treatment.

   Note

   A regular English plural, formed with -es, that belongs only to the countable side of the noun. One consensus is a single agreement or decision-making process, and consensuses are several of them set side by side: committees compared, or a field changing its mind over time. When consensus means agreement in general, it stays singular. The same spelling also serves the verb's present-tense form, so the surrounding grammar decides which is meant.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of consensus.

   Note

   Behind this form is a verb meaning to hold discussions until agreement is reached, and it works with or without an object: a committee consensuses, consensuses on a budget, or consensuses a plan. The -s form needs a singular subject, and here that subject is one body acting collectively, such as a board or a faculty senate. It is spelled like the noun plural but sits right after its subject, where a verb belongs.

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