Etymologically
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dissent

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈsɛnt/[1]
  • US: /dɪˈsɛnt/, /dəˈsɛnt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dissenten,[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin dissentiō (“to differ in sentiment, disagree”),[5][3][4][6][7] perhaps also by way of Middle French dissentir, which is recorded from the 15th century.[6][3][8][5] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart, differently”) and sentiō (“to feel, think”),[5][6][3][7] which the American Heritage Dictionary places under the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sent-.[4] The noun, first recorded in 1585, is from the verb.[6][5][9] The verb is related to sense, assent, consent and resent,[7] and dissension comes from the Latin past participle.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To withhold assent or consent; to disagree with or object to an action: about 1425, in Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland,[5] which is why Barnhart labels the first record Scottish.[6] The MED's earliest quotations, from Lydgate and Pecock, have the same sense.[2]

Semantic evolution

By 1536, in Tyndale, the verb also meant simply to think differently from someone.[5] From before 1555 it was used of differing from the doctrine or worship of a church, especially the established one.[5][3] For a time it could also mean to quarrel (1538–1743) or to differ in sense or nature (1539–1660).[5] The noun began in 1585 in that religious sense, in Archbishop Sandys's sermons,[5][3] and was used from 1596, in Spenser, for any difference of opinion;[5] the sense "refusal of a proposal, the opposite of consent" followed in 1651.[5][3] From 1772 it named the refusal to conform to an established church,[3] the OED's first quotation for this being Burke's speech of 1772, printed in 1812;[5] in 1792 Burke also used it for the dissenting part of the community as a whole.[5] The specialised sense of dissenter, a Protestant outside the Church of England, dates from the 17th century.[11] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as disagreement or a declaration of difference of opinion.[12] In law, a dissent is a judge's statement that he or she does not agree with the majority of the court.[13][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – verb, to withhold assent, to object.[5][6]
  • 1536 – to differ in opinion from someone.[5]
  • 1538 – to quarrel (obsolete by 1743).[5]
  • before 1555 – to differ from the doctrine of a church.[5]
  • 1585 – noun, difference of opinion on religious doctrine or worship.[5][6]
  • 1596 – noun, difference of opinion in general.[5]
  • 1651 – noun, disagreement with a proposal, the opposite of consent.[5]
  • 1772 – noun, refusal to conform to an established church.[3]
  • 1792 – the dissenting section of the community.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To disagree with an opinion or decision, or to refuse to give one's assent: Two members of the board dissented from the plan.[13][9][5]
  2. To refuse to conform to the doctrines or practices of an established church.[13][5]

Noun

  1. A difference of opinion; disagreement, especially with an official or majority view: The decision passed without dissent.[13][9][5]
  2. Separation from an established church; nonconformity.[13][9][5]
  3. (law) A judge's statement of disagreement with the decision of the majority of a court; a dissenting opinion.[13][9]

Word family

  • dissentingly
  • dissenter
  • dissentious

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists dissent, descent and decent as words that are easily confused.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins