consensus
/kənˈsɛnsəs/noun, verb
consensus is spelled C-O-N-S-E-N-S-U-S. The wrong spelling people search most is concensus: about 1,130 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Consensus is a noun meaning “A process of decision-making that seeks widespread agreement among group members”. The plural of consensus is consensuses.
How many letters and syllables are in consensus?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-S-E-N-S-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, concensus, about 1,130 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell consensus?
Consensus is spelled C-O-N-S-E-N-S-U-S. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for consensus in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is consensus?
Consensus appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce consensus?
- /kənˈsɛnsəs/
Consensus has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-PerfectSoundWhatever-consensus.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-consensus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of consensus
- consensuses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- consensusing participle, present
- consensused participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does consensus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A process of decision-making that seeks widespread agreement among group members.
- 2
General agreement among the members of a given group or community, each member of which exercises some discretion in decision-making and follow-up action.
reach consensus
- 3
An agreement on some data value that is needed during computation.
- 4
Average projected value.
a financial consensus forecast
verb
- 1
To seek consensus; to hold discussions with the aim of reaching mutual agreement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Consensus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | consensus |
| German | Konsens, Einvernehmen, Einigkeit, Übereinstimmung |
| Portuguese | consenso |
| Spanish | consenso , consensuar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does consensus come from?
Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus (“agreement, accordance, unanimity”), from cōnsentiō (“feel together; agree”); see consent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).