Consciousness

How to spell consciousness

13 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce consciousness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does consciousness mean?

1. nounThe state of being awake, aware, and able to perceive one's surroundings and thoughts.
2. nounCollective awareness of, or attention to, a particular issue or fact.

Consciousness in a sentence

• The patient slowly regained consciousness after the operation.

• The campaign aimed to raise public consciousness about recycling.

• A sharp blow to the head can cause a brief loss of consciousness.

• Environmental consciousness has grown sharply among younger workers.

Where does consciousness come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the Latin verb scire, meaning 'to know', combined with the prefix con-, 'together' or 'with', giving conscius, someone who 'knows something along with' others or with oneself. From conscius English formed the adjective 'conscious' in the early 1600s, originally describing inner awareness, a kind of private knowing within the mind. The abstract noun 'consciousness' was then created by adding the native English suffix -ness, which turns an adjective into a state or quality, and it appears from the same period to name the condition of being aware. The same scire root still sits inside relatives such as 'science', 'conscience', and 'omniscient', which is a useful clue to the tricky -sci- in the middle. The biggest spelling trap is precisely that silent, soft -sci- spelling for the 'sh' sound, plus the need to keep both the -ous and the -ness endings intact.

How the word is built

• con- (with, together)
• sci (from scire: to know)
• -ous (adjective: full of)
• -ness (noun: state or quality)