CONSCIOUSNESS • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Consciousness

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/kˈɑnʃəsnəs/ Listen

noun

Consciousness n.

The state of being conscious; knowledge of one's own existence, condition, sensations, mental operations, acts, etc. "Consciousness is thus, on the one hand, the recognition by the mind or "ego" of its acts and affections; in other words, the self-affirmation that certain modifications are known by me, and that these modifications are mine."

Immediate knowledge or perception of the presence of any object, state, or sensation. See the Note under Attention. "Annihilate the consciousness of the object, you annihilate the consciousness of the operation." "And, when the steam Which overflowed the soul had passed away, A consciousness remained that it had left.... images and precious thoughts That shall not die, and can not be destroyed." "The consciousness of wrong brought with it the consciousness of weakness."

Feeling, persuasion, or expectation; esp., inward sense of guilt or innocence. (R.) "An honest mind is not in the power of a dishonest: to break its peace there must be some guilt or consciousness."

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Etymology of 'Consciousness'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Consciousness" Quotes from Famous Books

... unvoiced supplication, if any, may have been behind the lips of either was not for the other to know. Yet it was an hour of formidable besetments and we may pardon the actor if an actor's self-consciousness moved him to reflect that there were thousands of healthy men, some as raw as Hugh, some as ripe as himself, who, for the sake of a promise, a wife or a maiden, or even without them, standing thus, ...

— Gideon's Band - A Tale of the Mississippi • George W. Cable

... corral an idea impinged upon his consciousness with the force of a bullet. "Gawdamighty," he ...

— The Heart of the Range • William Patterson White

... and of the third woman, Vida. The clergyman is really more frivolous often and far less conscious of his frivolity—enough, that I rather thought one of the strongest things about the play was the consciousness of their own humour, of ...

— Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: The New York Idea • Langdon Mitchell

... only, an anomaly, upon that one, white, unruffled consciousness! His first principle once recognised, all the rest, the whole array of propositions down to the [110] heartless practical conclusion, must follow of themselves. Detachment: to hasten hence: to fold up one's whole self, as a vesture put aside: to anticipate, by such ...

— Imaginary Portraits • Walter Horatio Pater

... so? And yet it was not pride I felt, Nor consciousness of self, nor vain delight In the world's envy;—something more than these, Far deeper, sweeter—What have I said? My brain Is dull with sleep. 'T is only now I feel The weariness of ...

— The Poems of Emma Lazarus - Vol. I (of II.), Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic • Emma Lazarus

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