Consciousness
ˈkɒnʃəsnəs
Definitions
2 meaningsThe state of being aware of oneself, one's thoughts, and one's environment; the ability to perceive stimuli and respond to them.
ˈkɒnʃəsnəs
The state of being aware of and responsive to one's surroundings.
She slowly regained consciousness after the accident.
💡 Simply: Imagine you wake up in the morning and can see, hear, and feel things. That's your consciousness at work! It's your awareness of what's happening around you and inside you.
👶 For kids: Being able to know things and feel things, like when you wake up and know you're awake!
More Examples
The feeling of being aware of the world around you is called consciousness.
Loss of consciousness can be a sign of serious injury.
How It's Used
"The study focused on altered states of consciousness."
"Philosophical discussions often center around the nature of consciousness."
"The patient regained consciousness after the surgery."
The subjective experience of being aware of one's thoughts, feelings, and sensations; a state of awareness that includes perception, emotion, thought, and will.
ˈkɒnʃəsnəs
The fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.
The artist sought to capture a sense of heightened consciousness in their work.
💡 Simply: Imagine your brain is like a movie player, and consciousness is the movie itself. It's everything you can see, feel, and think about.
👶 For kids: The feeling of knowing you're you and knowing about what's happening in the world.
More Examples
The practice of meditation can help to expand one's consciousness.
The philosophical debate centered on whether machines could achieve consciousness.
How It's Used
"The novel explores the stream of consciousness of the protagonist."
"Surrealist art aimed to tap into the subconscious and expand human consciousness."
Idioms & expressions
Stream of consciousness
A literary style that presents a character's thoughts and feelings as a continuous flow.
"The novel employed a stream of consciousness technique, allowing readers access to the character's unfiltered thoughts."
Altered states of consciousness
States of awareness that are different from normal waking consciousness.
"Meditation and hypnosis can induce altered states of consciousness."
From Latin *conscientia* ('knowledge, conscience, awareness'), formed from *con-* ('with') and *scire* ('to know'). It developed through Middle English, acquiring its modern sense relating to awareness in the 17th century.
Used extensively in 19th and 20th-century philosophical and psychological writing, particularly in discussions about the mind-body problem and subjective experience.
Memory tip
Think of being *conscious* of something – like a loud noise. *Consciousness* is the bigger picture, encompassing your entire awareness.
Practice
Word Origin
Root: conscire