Samþykkist

Samþykkist is an Icelandic verb form related to samþykkja, meaning to approve or to consent. Specifically, samþykkist is the present-tense form used in impersonal or passive constructions to mean “is approved” or “is accepted.” The root samþykkja comes from sam- (“together”) and þykkja (“to deem”), conveying the sense of a decision gaining collective approval.

In practice, samþykkist appears mainly in formal or official language, such as legal texts, parliamentary records, and administrative decisions, where approval is attributed to a body rather than to an individual. Examples include constructions like Tillagan samþykist af Alþingi (“The proposal is approved by Parliament”) and Það samþykkist að stofna nýja stofnun (“It is approved to establish a new agency”). More common variants in everyday speech use other forms, such as samþykkt (the noun “approval”) or samþykja in non-passive forms.

The word belongs to a broader family, including samþykkja (to approve) and samþykkt (approval), with samþykjast (to be approved or to be acceptable in a broader sense). The form samþykkist is relatively formal and is seldom used in casual conversation. Etymologically, it reflects Icelandic’s productive use of sam- with -þykkja to express collective agreement or approval.