CONSENSUS


Meaning of CONSENSUS in English

con ‧ sen ‧ sus AC /kənˈsensəs/ BrE AmE noun [singular, uncountable]

[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: from the past participle of consentire ; ⇨ ↑ consent 2 ]

an opinion that everyone in a group agrees with or accepts SYN agreement

consensus on/about

a lack of consensus about the aims of the project

consensus that

There is a consensus among teachers that children should have a broad understanding of the world.

The EU Council of Finance Ministers failed to reach a consensus on the pace of integration.

the current consensus of opinion

The general consensus was that technology was a good thing.

the consensus politics of the fifties

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COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ reach a consensus ( also arrive at a consensus )

The committee found that it was unable to reach a consensus.

▪ achieve a consensus

Will further talks achieve a consensus on the UN peace plan?

▪ build a consensus (=gradually achieve a consensus)

Canada worked on building a consensus among national governments.

▪ a consensus emerges (=is reached after talking about something)

No consensus emerged from these discussions.

■ adjectives

▪ national/international consensus

There was no international consensus on how to deal with the situation.

▪ political/scientific etc consensus

The scientific consensus is that global warming is already occurring.

▪ general consensus

Most decisions are reached by general consensus.

▪ broad consensus (=general)

There is a broad consensus that sport is good for you.

▪ clear consensus (=one that people agree on and understand)

There was no clear consensus about the future direction of the company.

▪ growing consensus (=one that more people are agreeing on)

The growing consensus is that we should focus on economic efficiency.

▪ strong consensus

There is a strong consensus that it is time for a change of leadership.

■ phrases

▪ a consensus of opinion

There are still areas where no consensus of opinion has been reached.

▪ a lack of consensus

Nothing was done because of a lack of consensus on the matter.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.