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consensus

n. C / U
C1 Advanced Oxford US //kənˈsɛnsəs// UK //kənsˈɛnsəs// con·sen·sus

n. a general agreement among a group of people. When everyone in a meeting finally agrees on a plan, they have reached a consensus.

n. a general agreement or collective opinion reached by a group as a whole. In technical contexts, it refers to the process by which distributed systems agree on a single data value.


SIMPLE

The committee finally reached a consensus on the new rules.

CONTEXTUAL

After hours of debate, the board members reached a consensus to increase the marketing budget for the next quarter.

COMPLEX

In distributed computing, achieving consensus among multiple nodes is essential for maintaining a consistent state across the network, especially when some components may fail or provide conflicting information.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin cōnsēnsus (“agreement, accordance, unanimity”), from cōnsentiō (“feel together; agree”); see consent.

Usage

Often used with the verbs 'reach', 'achieve', or 'build'. Frequently followed by the preposition 'on' or 'about' regarding the subject of agreement.

Pitfall

a consensus of opiniona consensusSince consensus means 'agreement of opinion', adding 'of opinion' is considered redundant in formal writing.

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