User:Adoring nanny/Essays/Define Consensus

Is there a scientific consensus that COVID-19 is the result of a Zoonosis? The answer to that question depends on your definition of "consensus".

I went to dictionary.com and saw the following two definitions:

1. majority of opinion 2. general agreement or concord; harmony.

Under those definitions, the answer as of today (June 17, 2021) is a resounding "no".

But for purposes of determining the results of Wikipedia discussions, Wikipedia uses a curious definition of "consensus" in which the best sources are academic sources. Therefore, for purposes of determining the results of Wikipedia discussions, one has to refer to what has been published in academic journals about whether or not COVID-19 is the result of a zoonosis. In that case, the answer is a resounding "yes". The following is shamelessly stolen from WP:NOLABLEAK. If one limits oneself to peer-reviewed publications in academic journals, it remains valid:

Immunity, May 19, 2020

Le infezioni in medicina (Italian), September 1, 2020

Postgraduate Medical Journal, February 1, 2021

World Health Organization, February 9, 2021

Reviews in Medical Virology, February 14, 2021

Infection, Genetics and Evolution, March 18, 2021

So for purposes of determining the results of Wikipedia discussions, there is a scientific consensus that COVID-19 is the result of a zoonosis.

But what about article space? Suppose one wants to write in an article that "there is a scientific consensus that COVID-19 is the result of a zoonosis". Should the word "consensus" in that sentence refer to a Wikipedia-consensus or a dictionary.com-consensus? I would think it refers to a dictionary.com-consensus, but I could be wrong.