• Conscious

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: kŏn'shÉ™s, IPA: /ˈkÉ’nʃəs/

    Origin

    From Latin conscius, itself from con- (a form of com- ("together") + scire ("to know").

    Full definition of conscious

    Adjective

    conscious

    1. Alert, awake.
      The noise woke me, but it was another few minutes before I was fully conscious.
    2. Aware.
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 5, Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
      • Orwell Animal Farm|6Once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness.
    3. I was conscious of a noise behind me.
    4. Aware of one's own existence; aware of one's own awareness.
      • 1999, Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, Hodder and Stoughton, pages 61–62:The best indicator of your level of consciousness is how you deal with life's challenges when they come.  Through those challenges, an already unconscious person tends to become more deeply unconscious, and a conscious person more intensely conscious.
    5. Only highly intelligent beings can be fully conscious.

    Related terms

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