▪ I. dissent, v.
(dɪˈsɛnt)
Also 5–6 dyss-, 6 dysc-, 6–7 disc-.
[ad. L. dissent-īre to differ in sentiment, dissent, f. dis- 1 + sentīre to feel, think; cf. F. dissentir (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. intr. To withhold assent or consent from a proposal, etc.; not to assent; to disagree with or object to an action. Const. from, † to.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. i. 36 Fra þis he dyssentyd hale. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (1840) 44 (Mätz.) Dame July must nedes haf hir wille, If I dissente, and if I make affray, I have the wers. 1565 T. Randolph in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 199 Whear unto some among the Lords dyscented. 1696 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 146 Some lords entred their reasons for dissenting to the order. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 105 The earls of Derby, as lords of Man, had maintained..authority..by assenting or dissenting to laws. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 293 Where a trustee refuses either to assent or dissent, the Court will itself exercise his authority. 1830 D'Israeli Chas. I, III. ix. 207 Those who openly dissented from the acts which the King had carried through the Parliament. |
2. To think differently, disagree, differ from, in (an opinion), from, † with (a person).
| a 1536 Tindale Doctr. Treat. (1848) 367 Where the first say ‘bread and wine cannot be the very body and blood of Christ’; there they vary and dissent from them. a 1555 Cranmer Wks. I. 47 Wherein the popish priests dissent from the manifest word of God. 1565 Sir W. Cecil in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 301 The Quenes Majesty will marry with none..that shall discent in Relligion. 1646 Gaule Select Cases 56 Hereupon it hath been somewhat dissented. 1654 Trapp Comm. Job xxxiii. 32 Some are so eristical and teasty, that they will not..bear with any that dissent. 1710 Addison Whig Exam. No. 1 ¶14, I dissent with the Examiner upon certain phrases. a 1763 Shenstone Ess., Religion, When misfortunes happen to such as dissent from us in matters of religion, we call them judgments. 1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xviii. 289 The points upon which they dissent from their neighbours. a 1871 Grote Eth. Fragm. ii. (1876) 37 If the public dissent from our views, we say that they ought to concur with us. |
b. spec. To differ in religious opinion; to differ from the doctrine or worship of a particular church, esp. from that of the established, national, or orthodox church.
| c 1553 Philpot Exam. & Writ. (1842) 397 Our adversary saith we dissent from the church..With what church sayest thou that we dissent? 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. i. §3 Every man ought to embrace the religion which is true, and to shun, as hurtful, whatsoever dissenteth from it, but that most, which doth furthest dissent. 1651 Hobbes Govt. & Soc. xvii. §26. 330 Those that came to Christianity..were not received into the Church without Baptisme; and those that dissented from the Church were depriv'd of the Churches Communion. 1653 Hales Brevis Disquisitio in Phenix (1708) II. 341 The whole Discipline of Manners is neglected..Only to dissent is counted a capital Crime. 1792 Burke Let. to Sir H. Langrishe Wks. VI. 323 If mere dissent from the church of Rome be a merit, he that dissents the most perfectly is the most meritorious. In many points we hold strongly with that church. He that dissents through⁓out with that church will dissent with the church of England. 1808 Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 98 The Methodists have hitherto been accused of dissenting from the Church of England. |
† c. ellipt. To differ as to, or from. Obs.
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. iii. §2 (1622) 17 Though they doe dissent, what a God they ought to haue, yet they fully doe consent, that a God they ought to haue. a 1662 Heylin Hist. Presbyt. i. §29 The greater wonder..that..they should so visibly dissent him in the point of the Sabbath. |
† 3. To be at dissension or variance; to quarrel.
| 1538 Bale God's Promises i. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 289 They shall hereafter dissent; His seed with her seed shall never have agreement. 1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 37 Nowe they did discent by warre. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 584 Even the best Apostles dissented; neither knowledge, nor holynesse can redresse all differences. 1743 Fielding J. Wild ii. vi, I am ashamed to see men..so foolishly and weakly dissenting among themselves. |
† 4. To differ in sense, meaning, or purport; also, in more general sense, to differ in nature, form, or other respect. Obs.
| 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. 5 A certayne pleasaunt fable..not much dissentynge from this purpose. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 8 The translation of the Seuentie dissenteth from the Originall in many places. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 192 The people differ not in colour nor condition, from the other..but their Funerals dissent from the rest. 1659 Stanley Hist. Philos. xii. (1701) 489/2 A God, whose Figure doth dissent From Men. |
▪ II. dissent, n.
(dɪˈsɛnt)
Also 7 desent.
[f. prec.]
1. Difference of opinion or sentiment; disagreement; † dissension, quarrel (obs.).
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. iv. 6 Artegall..Did stay awhile their greedy bickerment, Till he had questioned the cause of their dissent. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 202, I finde no dissent betweene any parties touching this precept. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. ii. 156 As if some deep hate and dissent..betwixt high winds and thee Were still alive. 1781 Cowper Convers. 97 Not that all freedom of dissent I blame..A disputable point is no man's ground. 1867 Carlyle Remin. (1881) II. 183 Cavaignac..accepting kindly my innumerable dissents from him. |
2. Disagreement with a proposal or resolution; the opposite of consent.
| 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxix. (1739) 134 Nor can he interpose his Dissent; nor do they care much for his Consent. 1667 Pepys Diary 21 Nov., The opposite Lords..desired they might enter their dissents. 1705 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 35 He and three Friends more entered not only their dissent but protest against it. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 293 The onus of proof would be on the complaining party..to shew reasons for his dissent. 1878 Morley Crit. Misc., Vauvenargues 3 Apart from formal and specific dissents like these. |
3. spec. Difference of opinion in regard to religious doctrine or worship.
| 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. v. §3 Where dissent in religion is, there can hardly be consent in loue. Diuersitie of Religion sundered the Jewe and Gentile. 1676 Marvell Gen. Councils Wks. 1875 IV. 151 He should not wonder at the dissents in the Christian religion, which were very small. a 1677 Barrow Pope's Suprem. (1687) 150 One Bishop excluding another from communion for dissent in opinion about disputable points. a 1742 Bentley Serm. (J.), What could be the reason of this general dissent from the notion of the resurrection? 1847–9 Helps Friends in C. (1851) I. 25 Even religious dissent were less dangerous and more respectable than dissent in dress. |
b. esp. The practical expression of disagreement with the form of religious worship which prevails or is authoritatively established in any country; nonconformity. Particularly applied to non-conformity with the established churches of England and Scotland, within the pale of the Reformed Churches.
| 1772 Burke Sp. Acts of Uniform., Dissent, not satisfied with toleration, is not conscience, but ambition. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 22/1 The origin of Protestant dissent from the church of England is usually traced back to the year 1548. 1840 Macaulay Ranke Ess. (1854) 557/1 In this way the Church of Rome unites in herself all the strength of establishment and all the strength of dissent. a 1862 Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 577 In Scotland dissent assumed a very different..character than in England. 1873 H. Spencer Stud. Sociol. ix. 238 The open expression of difference..to that which is authoritatively established, constitutes Dissent. |
c. Put for: The dissenting or nonconformist section of the community.
| 1792 Burke Let. to Sir H. Langrishe Wks. 1842 I. 549 Protestant dissent was one of the quarters from which danger was apprehended. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. (L.), On this occasion the whole strength of dissent was put forth..with the whole strength of the establishment. |
† 4. Want of agreement or harmony; difference of sense, character, nature, meaning, quality, etc.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne iii. ix. (1632) 537 The dissent or disparitie in the present manners of our state. 1611 Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. xli. (1614) 81 [We] may attribute this unto a..hidden dissent betwixt this soile and these geese, as the like is betweene wolves and the squilla roots. a 1626 Bacon (J.), Where the menstrua are the same, and yet the incorporation followeth not, the dissent is in the metals. 1626 Bacon Sylva §255 margin, Experiments..touching the Consent and Dissent between Visibles and Audibles. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 330 The Mace in few dayes..becom's tawny and unlike her former braverie: yet in that dissent, best pleases. |
▪ III. dissent
obs. form of descent.