Awareness

How to spell awareness

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce awareness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does awareness mean?

1. nounKnowledge or perception that something exists, or sensitivity to a particular situation or fact.

Awareness in a sentence

• The campaign aimed to raise public awareness of online fraud.

• His awareness of the deadline kept the whole team on schedule.

Where does awareness come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the noun form of the adjective 'aware', which descends from the Old English gewær, meaning 'watchful', 'cautious', or 'on guard'. That word was built from the prefix ge-, a common Old English particle, joined to wær, meaning 'careful' or 'wary', the same root that still survives in the modern words 'wary' and 'beware'. Over the centuries the spelling simplified and the sense softened from active vigilance toward the more general idea of simply knowing or perceiving that something exists. The abstract noun was created in English by adding the native suffix -ness, which turns an adjective into the name of a state or quality, so awareness literally names the condition of being aware. Because both 'aware' and the suffix are thoroughly English in origin, the word follows ordinary spelling patterns, and the main thing to remember is the single 'e' before the -ness ending.

How the word is built

• aware (from Old English gewær: watchful, conscious)
• -ness (noun suffix forming a state or quality)