age of consent
7
5.2
- noun
- /eɪdʒ əv kənˈsɛnt/
- NSFW
- In Michigan, the age of consent is 16, which means individuals aged 16 and older can legally engage in sexual activity.
Examples
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In most of the developed world, 15 is the age of consent.
Blog text (23) -
Some countries have the age of consent as young as 12 and 13.
Blog text (19) -
I mean, think about the age of consent, right?
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- All above the age of consent?
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I am a female past the age of consent.
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In some of these, the age of consent is 13 for girls and 15 for boys.
Blog text (23) -
The age of consent in Norway is 16 years.
Academic text (2004) -
"Statutory rape" is sex with someone under the age of consent.
Blog text (18) -
I don't know about the US, but down here, 16 is the age of consent.
Blog text (9) -
You're over the age of consent, ain't you?
Synonyms
12
3.0
A rule that sets the youngest or oldest age allowed to do something
10
3.6
The age at which a person becomes an adult by law
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally built from 'age' (a specific year or stage) + 'consent' (permission); together they denote the age at which permission is granted. This construction is common cross-linguistically (e.g. Spanish 'edad de consentimiento') and follows a straightforward noun-of-noun pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Age of consent comes from old laws that set the age when a person could give consent, that is, 'agree' to marriage or sex. So, it means the minimum age when the law says someone may 'agree'.