assent

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English assenten, also acenten,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French assenter, also asenter,^[4][3][5][6] beside assentir,^[4][2][7][8] from Latin assentor (“to agree with”), an irregular frequentative of assentiō (“to agree with, approve”).^[4][5][7] That verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and sentiō (“to feel, perceive, think”), the source of sense,^[4][7][5][9] and its descendant assentir is the only form left in French.^[4] The noun is inherited from Middle English assent, also acent,^[2] borrowed from Old French assent, also assente,^[4][10][3] a back-formation from the Old French verb.^[7][5] Its Anglo-Norman form is recorded from 1194–99, already for consent, formal approval and common accord.^[11] Klein compares consent, dissent and resent.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To give consent to a proposal or wish: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle.^[4] Etymonline and Barnhart say about 1300.^[7][8] The noun is recorded about 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder, in a phrase of the type with one assent,^[4][8] and for consent or compliance from about 1330, in Otuel, as Ich wele ben at acent.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Early use of the verb concerned the will, consenting to what someone proposes,^[4][10] and it also covered coming to an agreement together (about 1300 to 1634)^[4][10] and yielding or submitting (1340 to 1610).^[4][10] From about 1380, in Wyclif, the verb moved towards the understanding, to agreeing with a statement or admitting it as true.^[4][7] The noun took the same step much later: mental acceptance, which the OED calls the ordinary modern use, appears about 1550.^[4] In the older sense of compliance with a wish the noun gave way to consent,^[4] except in formal use: official sanction is recorded from about 1386, in Chaucer's Doctor's Tale,^[4] and survives in royal assent.^[10][3] With one assent, in common accord, lasted as a phrase until the 19th century,^[4][10] and the Authorized Version has it at 2 Chronicles 18:12.^[10] In Langland (1377) the noun could also mean simply an opinion, a use last recorded in 1559.^[4]

Timeline

• 1297 – verb, to give consent to a proposal.^[4]
• c. 1300 – verb, to agree together, decide; noun, with one assent, in accord.^[4]
• c. 1330 – noun, consent, compliance.^[4][2]
• 1340 – verb, to conform or submit (last recorded 1610).^[4]
• 1377 – noun, opinion (last recorded 1559).^[4]
• c. 1380 – verb, to agree with a statement or opinion.^[4][7]
• c. 1386 – noun, official or formal sanction.^[4]
• c. 1550 – noun, agreement with a statement; mental acceptance.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To agree or express agreement, usually followed by to: The committee assented to the new timetable.^[12][3][4]
2. To accept something as true: Few readers will assent to so bold a claim.^[3][4]
3. (obsolete, c. 1300–1634) To come to an agreement together; to decide.^[4][10]
4. (obsolete, 1340–1610) To conform or submit.^[4][10]

Noun

1. Agreement with a statement or proposal; acceptance of it as true: She nodded her assent.^[12][3][4]
2. Formal or official sanction, as in royal assent.^{[12][3][4][10]}
3. (archaic) Compliance with a wish; consent.^[3][4]
4. (obsolete, c. 1400–1715) Common accord; general approval.^[3][4][10]
5. (obsolete, 1377–1559) An opinion.^[4][10]

Word family

• assenter
• assentingly
• assentive
• assentiveness
• assentor
• nonassenting
• reassent
• unassenting

Related words

• sense
• consent
• dissent
• resent
• scent
• ascent

Usage notes

The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, separates the two: assent is mainly an act of the understanding and consent an act of the will, as in "I assent to that proposition" against "I consent to his going".^[7] The OED also records a rare adjective assent, sent forth or summoned, in Gower (1393), apparently formed from send and only spelt like this word.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins