the.com/assent
Agreement with its shoes on, standing up and nodding instead of just thinking yes.
means To officially agree to or approve something, often formally or after consideration.
from From Latin assentire — 'ad-' (to) plus 'sentire' (to feel or think) — so literally 'to feel toward' or 'to think along with.' It passed through Old French assentir into Middle English, keeping that core sense of aligning your mind with someone else's proposal. The same 'sentire' root gives us 'sentiment' and 'sense' — all words about feeling your way to a position.
- not consent
- consent permits an act, assent just agrees with an idea
- royal version
- UK monarch still formally assents to every law
- silent cousin
- nodding counts, but lawyers prefer it in writing