Conscious

How to spell conscious

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce conscious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conscious mean?

1. adjectiveAwake and aware of one's surroundings, or deliberately noticing and giving attention to something.

Conscious in a sentence

• She was conscious of being watched.

• She remained conscious throughout the procedure.

• Be conscious of the time you spend on this.

Where does conscious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin conscius, meaning 'knowing something together with another' or 'aware', built from con- 'with, together' and scire 'to know'. The same scire root powers a family of English words about knowing, including 'science', 'conscience', and 'omniscient'. Latin conscius originally carried the sense of sharing knowledge with someone, especially of a secret, before it narrowed to mean simply 'aware' or 'awake'. English adopted it in the early 1600s with the -ous adjective ending meaning 'full of'. The tricky spelling preserves that Latin sci cluster: writers expecting a plain 'sh' sound forget the silent c, and the -scious ending is the heart of the trap, shared with its close cousin 'conscience'.

How the word is built

• con- (with, together)
• sci (to know, from scire)
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of)