Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-SENT', n. [L. consensus; It. consenso; Fr. consentement; consentimiento; from L. consentio, to be of one mind, to agree; con and sentio, to think, feel, or perceive; Sp. consentir; Port. Fr. id.; It. consentire. See Sense and Assent.]

1. Agreement of the mind to what is proposed or stated by another; accord; hence, a yielding of the mind or will to that which is proposed; as, a parent gives his consent to the marriage of his daughter. We generally use this word in cases where power, rights, and claims are concerned. We give consent, when we yield that which we have a right to withhold; but we do not give consent to a mere opinion, or abstract proposition. In this case, we give our assent. But assent is also used in conceding what we may withhold. We give our assent to the marriage of a daughter. Consequently, assent has a more extensive application than consent. But the distinction is not always observed. Consent often amounts to permission. Defraud ye not one another, except with consent for a time. – 1 Cor. vii.
2. Accord of minds; agreement; unity of opinion. All with one consent began to make excuse. – Luke xiv. The company of priests murder by consent. – Hos. vi.
3. Agreement; coherence; correspondence in parts, qualities, or operation. Such is the world's great harmony that springs / From union, order, full consent of things. – Pope.
4. In the animal economy, an agreement, or sympathy, by which one affected part of the system affects some distant part. This consent is supposed to exist in, or be produced by the nerves; and the affections to be communicated from one part to another by means of their ramifications and distributions through the body. Thus, the stone in the bladder, by vellicating the fibers, will produce spasms and colic in the bowels; a shameful thing seen or heard will produce blushing in the cheeks. – Quincy. Encyc. But many facts indicate that other causes than nervous communication produce sympathy.