English
dissensus
Dissensus comes from Latin dissēnsus ‘disagreement, quarrel’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to go’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-1‘to go’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissēnsus1‘disagreement, quarrel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1874dissensus1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English dissensus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1874, Edmund Spiess, Comparative Study of Religions, in Its Bearing upon Christia: “Now it is apparent that neither the consensus of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, English dissensus‘to go’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdissēnsusWiktionary, English dissensus‘disagreement, quarrel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1874dissensusWiktionary, English dissensus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1874, Edmund Spiess, Comparative Study of Religions, in Its Bearing upon Christia: “Now it is apparent that neither the consensus of…”
A blend of dissent + consensus
Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to perceive’
Proto-Italic *sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’
Latin sentiō ‘to sense’
Latin cōnsentiō ‘feel together’
Latin cōnsēnsus ‘agreement, accordance, unanimity’
English consensus
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to go’
send, sense, sentence, sensitive, consent, sentiment, scent, sensible, sensation, sensor, consensus, resent, sith, sensibility, sentient, sensual, assent, sentience, sensuous, sensu, 32 more
Today it means
noun Disagreement, especially when widespread.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dissensus”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sent- / dissensus