consciousadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈkɒnʃəs/, U.S.

/ˈkɑnʃəs/

Forms: 1500s–1600s concious, 1500s– conscious, 1600s consious.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: Latin conscius , -ous suffix.

Etymology: < classical Latin conscius sharing knowledge, privy, privy to a crime or plot, (frequently with the dative of the reflexive pronoun) inwardly aware, conscious of guilt, having a guilty conscience, guilty ( < con- con- prefix + scīre to know: see science n.) + -ous suffix. Compare Italian conscio that has awareness or knowledge of something (c1336). With use as noun compare earlier superconscious n. Compare also unconscious adj.

A. adj.

1. Having awareness of one's own wrongdoing, affected by a feeling of guilt. Formerly also: †having guilty knowledge of (obsolete). Now literary.

ΚΠ

1573 J. Foxe in R. Barnes Supplic. Henry VIII (new ed.) in W. Tyndale et al. Wks. ii. 330 (margin) A prety practise to finde out a naughty concious Byshop.

1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. (new ed.) ii. 5 A conscious mind, and vndaunted hart, seldome dwell together.

1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 374 Pergamius accuses many thousands as conscious of the same arts.

1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme iii. iv. 118 She being conscious, did of her own accord..make confession of her wickednesse.

1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Conscious, inwardly guilty, privy to ones self of any fault or errour.

1719 Boston Newsletter 19–26 Jan. 1/2 You appear so conscious of your weak and groundless Charges, as to deny to give security for prosecuting the same.

1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) civ. pt. 3. vi The conscious Ravagers return.

1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxviii. 112 What time, with sweet forgiving cheer, He call'd his conscious brethren near.

1894 J. S. Dodge Purpose of God 231 The conscious sinner, humiliated and aware of God, is convinced that he has forfeited the divine favor.

1998 C. G. Martin Ruins of Allegory i. 70 His [sc. Milton's] conscious sinners can be purged only by literally experiencing and/or ‘tasting’ the fruits of their acts.

2. More generally: having knowledge or awareness; able to perceive or experience something. Cf. conscious to oneself at Phrases.

a. With clause or prepositional phrase.

(a) With subordinate clause.

ΚΠ

a1600 R. Hooker Disc. Justif. (1612) 35 There bee many, who being conscious what they are to looke for, do rather wish that they might, then thinke that they shall, cease, when they cease to liue.

a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. ii. 69 I am easily conscious that I have omitted many things.

1694 R. Burthogge Ess. Reason 4 If a person had never seen but one thing..he could not be sensible or conscious he did see it.

1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Jewish War ii. xix, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 800 Cestius was not conscious..how the besieged despaired.

1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iv. 601 Nobly conscious, Princes are but things Born for First Ministers, as Slaves for Kings.

1785 W. Cowper Task i. 156 How oft..we have borne The ruffling wind, scarce conscious that it blew.

1833 T. Hook Widow xii, in Love & Pride II. 56 Mrs. Alvingham remained, scarcely conscious whether she was standing on her head or her heels, in the drawing-room.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 63 He must have been conscious that, though he thought adultery sinful, he was an adulterer.

1878 J. Morley Diderot I. 140 He was profoundly conscious that the mere accumulation of knowledge..would take men a very short way.

1964 D. C. Douglas William the Conqueror iii. viii. 185 The duke's own experiences in youth must have made him conscious how inadequate might prove such oaths of fidelity at a time of crisis.

2001 A. Campbell Diary 15 May in Blair Years (2007) 528 I was suddenly conscious that I was jabbing my finger at him and thought it would be better to leave.

(b) With of a fact, information.

ΚΠ

1607 J. Marston What you Will i. i. sig. B^v Celia but heare me execrate thy loue. By heauen that once was consious of my loue.

1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 140 Sometimes vpon on the deaths-bed, to a soule conscious of an vpright and vnspotted life, the ioies of heauen present themselues before the time.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. xxi. 226 If the death of Commodus grieue you, was I the cause? If he were made away by Treason, your selues are conscious of my innocency.

1632 P. Massinger Maid of Honour iv. v. sig. I4^v A pardon Sir? 'Till I am conscious of an offence. I will not wrong my innocence to begge one.

1651 R. Baxter Plain Script. Proof Infants Church-membership & Baptism 215 So much you seem to be conscious of in saying it was your meaning.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 429 Satan..with Monarchal pride Conscious of highest worth, unmov'd thus spake.

1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 150 Tancred..Who, conscious of th' Occasion, fear'd th' Event.

1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 155. ⁋3 We are secretly conscious of defects and vices which we hope to conceal from the publick eye.

1792 R. Bage Man as he Is IV. lxxxiv. 12 If he could reason away the only feelings his new friend seemed to possess, he would scarce be conscious of his existence.

1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. III. 249 Lord Bacon was conscious of the slow progress of truth.

1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 3) App. iii. 448 A proof how conscious they were of their own unfitness.

1875 W. S. Jevons Money (1878) 172 An importance..of which even Americans are barely conscious.

1905 F. Young Sands of Pleasure i. v Vaguely conscious of the transiency and instability of material life.

2009 B. R. Burg Rebel at Large Introd. 19 He was acutely conscious of his status as the scion of a distinguished though ruined family.

ΚΠ

1631 T. May tr. J. Barclay Mirrour of Mindes ii. 33 Many, conscious to their owne weaknesse, doe endeavour, etc.

a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 145 I, who am conscious to your Patience and Wisdom.

1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §155 That He is present and conscious to our innermost thoughts.

1791 Duchess of York I. v Truly conscious to the demerits of this work.

1830 A. M. Porter Barony II. vii. 249 Miss Hungerford remained where he had left her, conscious to a trembling at her heart, which she would fain have believed had no individual object for its cause.

1854 Boatman of Bosphorus III. ii. 36 The over-wrought girl..was not conscious to the cordial looks bending ever her, as she lay there..in the soft white sheets.

1904 A. B. Young Life & Novels T. L. Peacock 64 It is a racy humour..that makes the reader laugh, even when he is conscious to the faults which are laid bare.

1969 New York 14 Apr. 43/3 In other scenes, I am conscious to having been ‘wired for sound’, and so I guess all I do is watch for that little box down the front of my shirt!

2002 W. Bryant Last Train Home xiii. 78 When I came to again I was conscious to the fact that I was no longer on the battlefield.

(d) With of something in one's surroundings. Chiefly poetic in earlier use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [adjective] > that perceives, aware > of something

sensible?c1425

conscientious1637

conusant1651

conscious1661

sentient1814

cognizant1820

cognoscent1830

1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus Second Punick War viii. 238 'Midst them all, as conscious of the Fight [L. belli praesagus], He looks.

1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 xxv. 7 Like hunted Castors, conscious of their Store, Their waylaid wealth to Norway's coasts they bring.

1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) iii. 25 Some o'er her Lap their careful Plumes display'd Trembling, and conscious of the rich Brocade.

1725 I. Watts Logick i. i Perception is that Act of the Mind (or as some Philosophers call it, rather a Passion or Impression) whereby the Mind becomes conscious of any Thing, as when I feel Hunger, Thirst, or Cold, or Heat; when I see a Horse, a Tree, or a Man; when I hear a human Voice, or Thunder.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 229 And of the gold and jewels glittering there She scarce felt conscious.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 68 Slowly and conscious of the rageful eye That watch'd him,..Went Leolin.

1920 I. L. Bentley Sifted Through 81 You have been conscious of the sun in the heavens for many years, but your idea of the sun is very different from your childish idea.

2000 I. Pattison Stranger here Myself (2001) ii. 67 I was conscious of a bunch of lank-haired older boys in combat jackets teeing off at the long fifth.

(e) Philosophy and Psychology. With of one's sensations, feelings, thoughts, etc. Cf. sense A. 8.

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the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective] > having internal perception of

conscious1690

the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > self-consciousness > [adjective]

self-feeling1595

conscient1605

conscious to oneself1611

conscientious1637

self-conscious1685

conscious1690

autonoetic1883

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. ii. 40 To be happy or miserable without being conscious of it, seems to me utterly inconsistent and impossible.

1693 R. Bentley Confut. Atheism from Origin of World: 3rd Pt. 6 Matter hath no life nor perception, and is not conscious of its own existence.

1768 Joys of Hymen I. 23 When, the ripe youth is conscious of delight, (Pleas'd with involuntary acts each night) The real joys of love, he then may taste, Lest the pure stores of nature run to waste.

1769 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. (ed. 4) I. i. 17 A man while awake is conscious of a continued train of perceptions passing in his mind.

1822 C. F. Sanders tr. H. Høffding Brief Hist. Mod. Philos. iii. 102 It is through reflection that we become conscious of a spontaneous impulse.

1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 205 We must conclude consciousness to belong to thought as thought. In other words thought is conscious of itself.

1910 H. Ellis in Pop. Sci. Monthly July 49 We may thus indeed the more easily understand those premonitory dreams in which the dreamer becomes conscious of morbid conditions which are not perceptible to awaking consciousness until they have attained a greater degree of intensity.

1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 21 The need for my mother—a need of which I was never conscious—made me warmly responsive to physical tenderness.

2009 A. Melnick Kant's Theory of Self ii. v. 56 The primate is conscious of being the subject of acting (of being with the forming of the act of lifting its hand toward its head)... Of course the primate, not being an intellect, isn't conscious of being an intellectual subject, but it is conscious of being the subject of acting that it is.

b. Without construction. Now chiefly Psychology (chiefly poetic in earlier use).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [adjective] > that perceives, aware

wareOE

awarea1250

apperceivanta1500

witting?a1513

knowing1586

right-eyed1600

conscious1617

animadversive1642

percipient1692

recognizant1817

cognizant1839

cognizing1862

perceptful1867

the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > emotional perception > [adjective] > emotionally conscious of something

sensible1611

sensible1614

conscious1617

innerly1824

1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. ii. x. 411 We denie him not to be in the Sacrament, (howsoeuer you slaunder vs) though wee define not the manner, but leaue that to him, who both can and will verifie his promise, though we be neither conscious nor concurrent.

1680 N. Tate Loyal General iv. 42 The Conscious Gods will be my Witnesses, How much the Traytor Theocrin I scorn.

1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 4 The Forests wonder'd at th' unusual Grain, And secret Transports touch'd the conscious Swain.

1744 J. Thomson Winter in Seasons (new ed.) 198 With broaden'd Nostrils to the Sky upturn'd, The conscious Heifer snuffs the stormy Gale.

1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci i. i. 6 I may speak Alike to you and my own conscious heart.

1875 H. K. Spangler Physician's Wife v. 43 Could mortal have suffered more keenly than did Prometheus, as, chained to the rocks of Mount Caucasus, with his conscious senses about him, the vulture kept prodding at his ever-beating heart?

a1930 S. Image Poems (1932) 89 Leaped a lie From conscious heart by conscious lips expressed, Thinking to cheat the gods As mortals we may cheat?

2008 M. R. Hathaway Only Psychic Power Bk. you'll ever Need 4 The conscious mind consists of only 10 percent of the total mind.

3. figurative. Attributed to inanimate things as privy to, sharing in, or witnessing human actions or secrets. Chiefly poetic. [Compare frequent use of classical Latin conscius in this sense in poetry. With quot. 1667 compare quorum nox conscia sola est ‘of which only night is witness’ (Ovid Metamorphoses 13. 15).]

ΚΠ

1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L4^v With Oath, Magnificates his Merit; and bespaules The conscious Time, with humorous Fome.

1655 J. Denham Coopers Hill (new ed.) 14 Thence to the coverts, and the conscious Groves, The scenes of his past triumphs, and his loves.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 521 So all ere day spring, under conscious Night Secret they finish'd.

1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 202 Examin the prisons of the inquisitions, the groans of which those walls are conscious.

1769 G. Keate Netley Abbey (ed. 2) 24 He spoke—resolv'd—The menac'd Arches frown'd, The conscious Walls in sudden Conflict join'd, Crush'd the pale Wretch in one promiscuous Wound, And left this Monument of Wrath behind.

1814 R. Southey Roderick xv. 181 If the conscious air had caught the sound.

1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xvi. 278 To these conscious stones we two pilgrims were alike known and near.

a1901 C. James Poems (1903) 41 She swoons in bliss, the conscious rocks recede.

1991 B. S. McDougall & Chen Maiping tr. Bei Dao Old Snow 17 A drop of blood marks the final point On the map spread over death Conscious stones underneath my feet Forgotten by me.

4. Present to the mind or to consciousness; known to oneself, felt; of which the possessor is aware. Also: resulting from the possession of awareness or consciousness. In Psychology often opposed to unconscious and subconscious.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective] > present to consciousness

conscious1603

1603 T. Powell Welch Bayte to Spare Prouender sig. B2 For mine owne parte I doe belieue there is no other Atheist but of conscious ambition.

1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 89 That love is but the spurious, and adulterate issue of a conscious and guilty feare.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 801 They..howle and gnaw My Bowels, their repast; then bursting forth Afresh with conscious terrours vex me round.

1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iii. 137 All Animal Life, Sense and Self-perception, Conscious Vnderstanding and Personality are Generated and Corrupted, successively Educed out of Nothing and Reduced into Nothing again.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 4. ⁋6 She knows she is handsom, but she knows she is good. Conscious Beauty adorned with conscious Virtue!

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 188 His face became pale with conscious guilt.

1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. x. 235 With a Power, which appears almost a conscious one.

a1791 T. Blacklock Poems (1793) 48 Thy conscious charms, thy practis'd arts, Those adventitious beams that round thee shine.

1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets i. 16 Knowledge is conscious power.

1877 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (ed. 3) iv. 83 Truth..gives conscious rank to its possessors.

1888 H. James in Cent. Mag. Dec. 225/1 And the most alien of the cockneyfied..is free to admit, with conscious pride, that he has submitted to Londonization.

1892 B. C. Burt Hist. Mod. Philos. I. iii. 301 It is unconscious rather than conscious volition that constitutes the essence of personality.

1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 9 Mr. Opie sank with conscious luxury into his corner.

1962 F. Livson in S. Reichard et al. Aging & Personality ii. v. 71 At a less conscious level, retirement may imply loss of manhood.

2008 B. Dainton Phenomenal Self v. 137 We can imagine losing all our bodily feeling (at least from the neck down) and continuing to exist, provided that we continue to think conscious thoughts and have emotional feelings.

†5. Sharing the knowledge of something with another, privy. Also with to, of. Obsolete. [With quot. 1651 compare the classical Latin construction of conscius with genitive of the thing known and dative of the person with whom the knowledge is shared.]

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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > entrusted with secrets

privya1393

derna1400

secret1470

secre?1553

private1601

conscious1609

confident of1659

fellow-knowing1662

confidant1816

1609 S. Daniel Civile Wares (rev. ed.) viii. lxv. 220 Those who were about him, presently Voyded the roome, and left him to confer Alone with his faire Suter priuatly (As they who to his courses conscious were).

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. vii. 31 Where two, or more men, know of one and the same fact, they are said to be Conscious of it one to another.

1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 452 Their King was in no wise conscious to the murder.

1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 88 The same God might be a conscious or fellow-knowing revenger..of our sin.

1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 223 The Mother..is not conscious to any thing that is done there.

1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. ii. 88 Nothing is to be conceal'd from the other self. To be a friend and to be conscious are terms equivalent.

1828 C. Wordsworth King Charles I 231 His Wife ‘being conscious’ to the transaction.

6. Having a conscience; conscientious.Relatively rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > [adjective] > conscientious

faithfulc1400

good-heartedc1425

rigorousa1500

nice-conscienced1530

scrupulous1542

conscionable1549

punctual1609

conscientious1611

tender-conscienceda1617

conscious1628

1628 R. Hayman Quodlibets ii. 23 Whilst concious men of smallest sinnes haue ruth, Bold sinners count great Sinnes, but tricks of youth.

1654 A. Cokayne tr. G. F. Loredano Dianea ii. 90 One of the most worthy and consciousest Princes [It. Vno del più degni, e de i più cortesi Principi] that belonged to the service of the Crown.

1786 J. Hewlett Serm. on Different Subj. xi. 231 Nor is it enough that he is a good and conscious man.

1863 in Texas Methodist Hist. Q. (1910) Apr. 354 He was a most conscious man, faithful in the performance of his duty.

a1910 ‘O. Henry’ Sixes & Sevens (1911) xxi. 236 Luke was..one of the most conscious men in the world. He never knew much book law, but he had the inner emoluments of justice and mercy inculcated into his system.

2003 R. W. Braswell Jeffrey vii. 139 He was a good and conscious man, and he provided for us the best he could.

a. Resulting from or showing awareness of one's own appearance, thoughts, or actions, especially undue awareness. Chiefly literary.

ΚΠ

a1665 J. Quarles tr. J. Cats Self-conflict (1680) 100 Sure modesty is womens chiefest grace, A lowly eye, an humble bashful face, Even then that blushes with a conscious red, When, though of Marriage, ought to her is said.

1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) ii. 6 The proud Parnassian sneer, The conscious simper, and the jealous leer, Mix on his look.

1827 T. Carlyle Richter in Edinb. Rev. June 186 He moves about with a conscious air.

1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. v. 76 His intelligent eyes were fixed upon Isabel's with the conscious look of a man who has brought himself to confess something.

1937 I. Compton-Burnett Daughters & Sons iv. 103 Returning with a conscious flush, which marked his relation to his niece.

2002 J. Stevenson Shadow King (2003) xi. 264 They are the softest, most melting, amorous letters wit can contrive; they would raise a conscious blush on the face of a Vestal, though there is not a line obscene or disgraceful.

b. Aware of one's own appearance, thoughts, or actions, especially unduly so or in a way that causes discomfort. Also with about, of. Cf. self-conscious adj. 4.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [adjective] > excessively self-aware

conscious1668

self-conscious1825

1668 R. Howard Great Favourite Prol., in Dramat. Wks. (1722) El. The Poet and the Company are wrangling within. Nepp. About what? El. A Prologue. Nepp. Why, is't an ill one? El. Two to one it had been so if he had writ any; but the conscious Poet, with much Modesty, and very Civilly and Sillily—has writ none.

1796 F. Burney Camilla IV. viii. vii. 324 Their eyes met not again; delighted and conscious, she turned hers hastily away.

1841 E. Leslie in Gift 1842 180 Matilda simpered, and cast down her eyes, and looked conscious about nothing, and said in a low voice, ‘It is a Mr. Carteret, a young lawyer, belonging to a great Jersey family, and heir to a large estate.’

1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. App. 93 When a person is said to be morbidly or excessively conscious, there is indicated an excessive attention to the feelings and the thoughts, and a slender amount of occupation with outward things.

1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway 11 Ah yes, she did of course; what a nuisance; and felt very sisterly and oddly conscious at the same time of her hat.

1953 H. E. Bates in Lilliput July 57/2 She was very conscious of her legs; she had always been terribly aware of their ugliness.

1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iii. 61 She was conscious about getting ready for houseguests—her father and stepmother.

1997 A. Walker Franz Liszt III. iii. 31 By the mid-1850s Marie's golden hair had turned snowy white, a fact of which she was at first unduly conscious, since she thought it made her look prematurely aged.

8. Philosophy and Psychology. Having the faculty of consciousness; characterized by the presence of consciousness. See consciousness n. 2a.See also conscious subject at subject n. 9.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective]

conscient1605

conscientional1652

conscious1725

consciential1886

the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > self-consciousness > [adjective] > aware of itself

conscious1725

1725 I. Watts Logick i. ii. 18 Among Substances some are thinking or conscious Beings, or have a Power of Thought, such as the Mind of Man, God, Angels.

1766 London Mag. Jan. 5/2 Dr. L.— considers the soul as a essential part or quality, if you will, of the compound, conscious being, man.

1797 J. Walker Crit. Pronouncing Dict. (ed. 2) 171/2 To Understand,..to have use of the intellectual faculties; to be an intelligent or conscious being; to be informed.

1825 T. T. Biddulph Theol. Early Patriarchs II. xxxvii. 413 Than that God left his fallen but conscious creatures, for almost two thousand years, without any specific acquaintance with the method which his wisdom and mercy had devised.

1876 J. B. Mozley Serm. preached Univ. of Oxf. xvi. 264 Man..as a conscious being, conscious of himself, and conscious of others around him.

1900 F. S. Turner Knowl., Belief & Certitude i. iv. 224 What brings to light the conscious being is reflection on the plurality of states and objects, in all of which the conscious being is the uniting fact.

1949 J. Loewenberg Dialogues from Delphi viii. 270 The facts and events that occasion distress and affliction, pity and fear,..are painful or lamentable only from the point of view of sentient or conscious creatures whose aims or purposes they frustrate or defeat.

2006 B. Gert et al. Bioethics (ed. 2) xi. 292 Although death is a biological phenomenon common to members of all species, criteria for the death of a plant are not as precise as the criteria for the death of a conscious animal.

a. Done or created deliberately; intentional.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > [adjective] > performed with intention

bethoughtc1200

expressa1400

wilfula1400

purposedc1422

purpensed1436

malice prepensed1454

aforethought1472

studiedc1475

setc1485

voluntary1495

deliberate?1527

willing1550

witting1553

propensed1560

fore-intendeda1586

affected1586

designed1586

determinate1586

intended1592

deliberated1594

uncasual1614

recollecteda1616

resolved1624

industriousa1628

intentionate1631

pre-intended1636

advised1642

malice prepense1647

sedentary1647

propense1650

consultive1651

(crime, evil, etc.) of forethought1692

conscious1726

intentionala1729

systematic1746

studious1750

systematical1750

prepensive1752

advertent1832

self-conscious1832

volitive1839

designful1852

purposeful1853

purposive1864

thought-controlled1926

1726 2nd Enq. Reasons Conduct Great Brit. 9 An exorbitant and enormous Ambition, in short, was not so much Cæsar's Foible, as his conscious and deliberate Crime.

1745 H. Winder Crit. & Chronol. Hist. Rise Knowl. I. xii. 170 The Ocean and the Earth exercised as much Reason and conscious Design, in sending up Vapours and vegetable Juices, as the Sun did in sending forth that prolific Heat.

1837 J. Jones Bk. Young 84 Not to live to God and eternity with a conscious decision of the soul, is a demonstration that..we are corrupt and depraved creatures.

1860 B. F. Westcott Introd. Study Gospels (ed. 5) vi. 323 A..sequence..which few will attribute to an apt coincidence or to a conscious design.

1922 A. K. Hanna Home Econ. in Elem. & Secondary Schools ii. xv. 289 There is need for a conscious decision..as to whether the material in these grades should be that which is of value to all children, both boys and girls.

1962 J. Braine Life at Top xxvi. 288 With no warning, through no conscious effort I was..happier than I had been since childhood.

2009 B. Linsley in K. K. Durand Buffy meets Acad. iii. 131 Principal Robin Wood is presented as..a human with personal issues that lead him down a path of vengeance and intentional, conscious violence.

b. Aware of what one is doing or intending to do; having a purpose and intention in one's actions.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > [adjective]

considerate1581

conscious1829

prepense1840

intentional1863

purposive1864

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosophy of reflection of self > [adjective]

self-conscious1685

conscious1829

1829 Ladies' Mag. Aug. 355 And when to claim of thee a wreath The conscious poet may presume, O then thy sweetest incense breathe, O then perennial bloom!

1882 F. W. Farrar Early Days Christianity I. 130 That St. Peter has here been the conscious or unconscious borrower may be regarded as certain.

1924 Rotarian Sept. 48/2 If man can sit down in this deliberate fashion to rationalize his relations with his fellows, if he can thus be the conscious designer of his own institutions, [etc.].

1944 A. L. Kroeber Configurations of Culture Growth viii. 573 He [sc. Chaucer] is recognized as a definitely conscious poet; one less so might have been either uninfluenced or overwhelmed by impact with Italian literature.

2008 B. Santos de Oliveira in D. van den Heuvel Challenge of Change 281 Those involved..demonstrate the formation of a more conscious professional, who is able to face the challenges presented by themes such as reuse and conservation of historic buildings.

10. Aware of and responding to one's surroundings; having one's mental faculties in an active and waking state.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [adjective] > conscious

alive1592

sensible1678

conscious1728

1728 Z. Mayne Two Diss. conc. Sense & Imagination 187 A Man in Dreaming, for want of being Conscious, knoweth not that he has a Dream.

1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage (1819) I. iii. 24 Lady Juliana stood the image of despair, and scarcely conscious, admitted in silence the civilities of her new relations.

1841 E. Bulwer-Lytton Night & Morning v. xxi And when at last he was conscious, her face was the first he saw.

1860 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (1883) I. 505 The sister reported that he had become conscious, having recognized her and called her by name.

1904 V. Cross Tomorrow? v. 182 Lucia was conscious, awake.

1961 W. R. Russell & M. L. E. Espir Traumatic Aphasia iii. 23 He was seen within a short time of wounding and was fully conscious without evidence of intracranial damage.

2010 W. Berry Guesthouse p. xxvi Amanda called for an ambulance and her mother was rushed to the hospital, barely conscious.

11. As the second element of compounds formed with nouns, and occasionally adjectives, with the sense ‘conscious of—, aware of—’; class-, fashion-, money-, race-, social-, weight-conscious: see the first element.Some less common formations are illustrated here.

ΚΠ

1834 Monthly Repository Oct. 711 Thou dost quell A gentle spirit in each blossom sweet (Which its love-conscious mates for ever pine to greet—And pine in vain !).

1853 J. N. Darby Irrationalism of Infidelity 4 In Christ..I find perfect love to me as a poor sinner, and thus have the possibility of truthfulness and honesty in a sin-conscious soul.

1900 Outlook 29 Dec. 1059/1 But we recognize more and more of life in the ascending grades from the grass to the cattle, from cattle to men, from men merely self-conscious to men who are God-conscious.

1934 H. G. Wells Exper. in Autobiogr. I. ii. 79 I became woman-conscious from those days onward.

1938 B. Russell Power 166 It [sc. a chess-club] might..seek to make more people ‘chess-conscious’.

1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Mar. p. vi/3 A culture so history-conscious.

2008 Daily Tel. 11 Nov. 5/1 A new breed of cash-conscious women is stalking the High Street.

B. n.

Philosophy and Psychology. With the. The conscious mind.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [noun]

wita1000

i-mindOE

mindc1350

common wita1398

advertencec1405

common sense1543

consciousness1678

conscious1852

1852 Soul's Welfare 3 20 Never till, by the long continued repetition of crimes, the conscious is rendered callous, will it, if aware of the demerit of sin, be exempted from gloomy recollections and dismal anticipations.

1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. iii. 34 They figure in her dreams in forms which imply moral condemnation in the unconscious as well as in the conscious, as demons or brutal people.

2000 C. M. Robeck in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 531/2 The rediscovery of the human psyche by Pentecostals comes in a most pronounced fashion within speaking in tongues. The conscious and the subconscious seem to be fully integrated under the hand of the Holy Spirit.

Phrases

conscious to oneself now somewhat archaic = sense A. 2. [Compare classical Latin conscius sibi conscious to oneself, with the genitive of the thing known or with de and the ablative of the thing known.]

ΚΠ

1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 127 He is conscious to himselfe, of an honest ciuill life, of a sober formall cariage in the affaires of religion, and that he is not infamous with any notoriousnesse in the world.

1620 J. Ussher Serm. (1621) 1 Being so conscious vnto my selfe of my great weakenesse.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 305 Wherin a Man is Conscious [MS. and ed. 1612 conscient] to himselfe, that he is most Defectiue.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. i. 43 If they say, That a man is always conscious to himself of thinking.

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 43 Their own Medicines, which they must needs be conscious to themselves, were good for nothing.

1779 E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 303 If I were not conscious to myself of having done every thing in my power, to warn the nation.

1810 Christian Observer Jan. 12/2 Surely there is not one person present who is not conscious to himself that he has committed many and great transgressions against God.

1877 E. Payson Doctor Tom xiv. 162 Was it enough that she seemed so conscious to herself of the rectitude of her conduct?

1901 Bible Student Mar. 132/2 The prophets..not only did not in every instance comprehend the import of the message with which they were charged, but were conscious to themselves that its meaning eluded them even when they..prayerfully sought to lay hold upon it.

2005 P. Tickle Prayer is Place (2010) xxviii Most of the time, of course, when I am speaking, I am just speaking, and conscious to myself in much the same way that I am conscious to myself when I am driving: pleasantly aware, certainly alert, but confident of arriving somewhere before too long.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	conscious
释义	consciousadj.n. Brit. /ˈkɒnʃəs/, U.S. /ˈkɑnʃəs/ Forms: 1500s–1600s concious, 1500s– conscious, 1600s consious. Origin: A borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Etymons: Latin conscius , -ous suffix. Etymology: < classical Latin conscius sharing knowledge, privy, privy to a crime or plot, (frequently with the dative of the reflexive pronoun) inwardly aware, conscious of guilt, having a guilty conscience, guilty ( < con- con- prefix + scīre to know: see science n.) + -ous suffix. Compare Italian conscio that has awareness or knowledge of something (c1336). With use as noun compare earlier superconscious n. Compare also unconscious adj. A. adj. 1. Having awareness of one's own wrongdoing, affected by a feeling of guilt. Formerly also: †having guilty knowledge of (obsolete). Now literary. ΚΠ 1573 J. Foxe in R. Barnes Supplic. Henry VIII (new ed.) in W. Tyndale et al. Wks. ii. 330 (margin) A prety practise to finde out a naughty concious Byshop. 1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. (new ed.) ii. 5 A conscious mind, and vndaunted hart, seldome dwell together. 1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 374 Pergamius accuses many thousands as conscious of the same arts. 1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme iii. iv. 118 She being conscious, did of her own accord..make confession of her wickednesse. 1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Conscious, inwardly guilty, privy to ones self of any fault or errour. 1719 Boston Newsletter 19–26 Jan. 1/2 You appear so conscious of your weak and groundless Charges, as to deny to give security for prosecuting the same. 1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) civ. pt. 3. vi The conscious Ravagers return. 1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xxviii. 112 What time, with sweet forgiving cheer, He call'd his conscious brethren near. 1894 J. S. Dodge Purpose of God 231 The conscious sinner, humiliated and aware of God, is convinced that he has forfeited the divine favor. 1998 C. G. Martin Ruins of Allegory i. 70 His [sc. Milton's] conscious sinners can be purged only by literally experiencing and/or ‘tasting’ the fruits of their acts. 2. More generally: having knowledge or awareness; able to perceive or experience something. Cf. conscious to oneself at Phrases. a. With clause or prepositional phrase. (a) With subordinate clause. ΚΠ a1600 R. Hooker Disc. Justif. (1612) 35 There bee many, who being conscious what they are to looke for, do rather wish that they might, then thinke that they shall, cease, when they cease to liue. a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. ii. 69 I am easily conscious that I have omitted many things. 1694 R. Burthogge Ess. Reason 4 If a person had never seen but one thing..he could not be sensible or conscious he did see it. 1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Jewish War ii. xix, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 800 Cestius was not conscious..how the besieged despaired. 1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) iv. 601 Nobly conscious, Princes are but things Born for First Ministers, as Slaves for Kings. 1785 W. Cowper Task i. 156 How oft..we have borne The ruffling wind, scarce conscious that it blew. 1833 T. Hook Widow xii, in Love & Pride II. 56 Mrs. Alvingham remained, scarcely conscious whether she was standing on her head or her heels, in the drawing-room. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 63 He must have been conscious that, though he thought adultery sinful, he was an adulterer. 1878 J. Morley Diderot I. 140 He was profoundly conscious that the mere accumulation of knowledge..would take men a very short way. 1964 D. C. Douglas William the Conqueror iii. viii. 185 The duke's own experiences in youth must have made him conscious how inadequate might prove such oaths of fidelity at a time of crisis. 2001 A. Campbell Diary 15 May in Blair Years (2007) 528 I was suddenly conscious that I was jabbing my finger at him and thought it would be better to leave. (b) With of a fact, information. ΚΠ 1607 J. Marston What you Will i. i. sig. B^v Celia but heare me execrate thy loue. By heauen that once was consious of my loue. 1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 140 Sometimes vpon on the deaths-bed, to a soule conscious of an vpright and vnspotted life, the ioies of heauen present themselues before the time. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. xxi. 226 If the death of Commodus grieue you, was I the cause? If he were made away by Treason, your selues are conscious of my innocency. 1632 P. Massinger Maid of Honour iv. v. sig. I4^v A pardon Sir? 'Till I am conscious of an offence. I will not wrong my innocence to begge one. 1651 R. Baxter Plain Script. Proof Infants Church-membership & Baptism 215 So much you seem to be conscious of in saying it was your meaning. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 429 Satan..with Monarchal pride Conscious of highest worth, unmov'd thus spake. View more context for this quotation 1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 150 Tancred..Who, conscious of th' Occasion, fear'd th' Event. 1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 155. ⁋3 We are secretly conscious of defects and vices which we hope to conceal from the publick eye. 1792 R. Bage Man as he Is IV. lxxxiv. 12 If he could reason away the only feelings his new friend seemed to possess, he would scarce be conscious of his existence. 1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. III. 249 Lord Bacon was conscious of the slow progress of truth. 1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Constit. (ed. 3) App. iii. 448 A proof how conscious they were of their own unfitness. 1875 W. S. Jevons Money (1878) 172 An importance..of which even Americans are barely conscious. 1905 F. Young Sands of Pleasure i. v Vaguely conscious of the transiency and instability of material life. 2009 B. R. Burg Rebel at Large Introd. 19 He was acutely conscious of his status as the scion of a distinguished though ruined family. (c) With to. [Compare classical Latin conscius with the dative of the thing known.] ΚΠ 1631 T. May tr. J. Barclay Mirrour of Mindes ii. 33 Many, conscious to their owne weaknesse, doe endeavour, etc. a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 145 I, who am conscious to your Patience and Wisdom. 1710 G. Berkeley Treat. Princ. Human Knowl. §155 That He is present and conscious to our innermost thoughts. 1791 Duchess of York I. v Truly conscious to the demerits of this work. 1830 A. M. Porter Barony II. vii. 249 Miss Hungerford remained where he had left her, conscious to a trembling at her heart, which she would fain have believed had no individual object for its cause. 1854 Boatman of Bosphorus III. ii. 36 The over-wrought girl..was not conscious to the cordial looks bending ever her, as she lay there..in the soft white sheets. 1904 A. B. Young Life & Novels T. L. Peacock 64 It is a racy humour..that makes the reader laugh, even when he is conscious to the faults which are laid bare. 1969 New York 14 Apr. 43/3 In other scenes, I am conscious to having been ‘wired for sound’, and so I guess all I do is watch for that little box down the front of my shirt! 2002 W. Bryant Last Train Home xiii. 78 When I came to again I was conscious to the fact that I was no longer on the battlefield. (d) With of something in one's surroundings. Chiefly poetic in earlier use. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [adjective] > that perceives, aware > of something sensible?c1425 conscientious1637 conusant1651 conscious1661 sentient1814 cognizant1820 cognoscent1830 1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus Second Punick War viii. 238 'Midst them all, as conscious of the Fight [L. belli praesagus], He looks. 1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 xxv. 7 Like hunted Castors, conscious of their Store, Their waylaid wealth to Norway's coasts they bring. 1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) iii. 25 Some o'er her Lap their careful Plumes display'd Trembling, and conscious of the rich Brocade. 1725 I. Watts Logick i. i Perception is that Act of the Mind (or as some Philosophers call it, rather a Passion or Impression) whereby the Mind becomes conscious of any Thing, as when I feel Hunger, Thirst, or Cold, or Heat; when I see a Horse, a Tree, or a Man; when I hear a human Voice, or Thunder. a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 229 And of the gold and jewels glittering there She scarce felt conscious. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 68 Slowly and conscious of the rageful eye That watch'd him,..Went Leolin. 1920 I. L. Bentley Sifted Through 81 You have been conscious of the sun in the heavens for many years, but your idea of the sun is very different from your childish idea. 2000 I. Pattison Stranger here Myself (2001) ii. 67 I was conscious of a bunch of lank-haired older boys in combat jackets teeing off at the long fifth. (e) Philosophy and Psychology. With of one's sensations, feelings, thoughts, etc. Cf. sense A. 8. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective] > having internal perception of conscious1690 the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > self-consciousness > [adjective] self-feeling1595 conscient1605 conscious to oneself1611 conscientious1637 self-conscious1685 conscious1690 autonoetic1883 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. ii. 40 To be happy or miserable without being conscious of it, seems to me utterly inconsistent and impossible. 1693 R. Bentley Confut. Atheism from Origin of World: 3rd Pt. 6 Matter hath no life nor perception, and is not conscious of its own existence. 1768 Joys of Hymen I. 23 When, the ripe youth is conscious of delight, (Pleas'd with involuntary acts each night) The real joys of love, he then may taste, Lest the pure stores of nature run to waste. 1769 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. (ed. 4) I. i. 17 A man while awake is conscious of a continued train of perceptions passing in his mind. 1822 C. F. Sanders tr. H. Høffding Brief Hist. Mod. Philos. iii. 102 It is through reflection that we become conscious of a spontaneous impulse. 1863 E. V. Neale Analogy Thought & Nature 205 We must conclude consciousness to belong to thought as thought. In other words thought is conscious of itself. 1910 H. Ellis in Pop. Sci. Monthly July 49 We may thus indeed the more easily understand those premonitory dreams in which the dreamer becomes conscious of morbid conditions which are not perceptible to awaking consciousness until they have attained a greater degree of intensity. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 21 The need for my mother—a need of which I was never conscious—made me warmly responsive to physical tenderness. 2009 A. Melnick Kant's Theory of Self ii. v. 56 The primate is conscious of being the subject of acting (of being with the forming of the act of lifting its hand toward its head)... Of course the primate, not being an intellect, isn't conscious of being an intellectual subject, but it is conscious of being the subject of acting that it is. b. Without construction. Now chiefly Psychology (chiefly poetic in earlier use). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [adjective] > that perceives, aware wareOE awarea1250 apperceivanta1500 witting?a1513 knowing1586 right-eyed1600 conscious1617 animadversive1642 percipient1692 recognizant1817 cognizant1839 cognizing1862 perceptful1867 the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > emotional perception > [adjective] > emotionally conscious of something sensible1611 sensible1614 conscious1617 innerly1824 1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. ii. x. 411 We denie him not to be in the Sacrament, (howsoeuer you slaunder vs) though wee define not the manner, but leaue that to him, who both can and will verifie his promise, though we be neither conscious nor concurrent. 1680 N. Tate Loyal General iv. 42 The Conscious Gods will be my Witnesses, How much the Traytor Theocrin I scorn. 1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 4 The Forests wonder'd at th' unusual Grain, And secret Transports touch'd the conscious Swain. 1744 J. Thomson Winter in Seasons (new ed.) 198 With broaden'd Nostrils to the Sky upturn'd, The conscious Heifer snuffs the stormy Gale. 1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci i. i. 6 I may speak Alike to you and my own conscious heart. 1875 H. K. Spangler Physician's Wife v. 43 Could mortal have suffered more keenly than did Prometheus, as, chained to the rocks of Mount Caucasus, with his conscious senses about him, the vulture kept prodding at his ever-beating heart? a1930 S. Image Poems (1932) 89 Leaped a lie From conscious heart by conscious lips expressed, Thinking to cheat the gods As mortals we may cheat? 2008 M. R. Hathaway Only Psychic Power Bk. you'll ever Need 4 The conscious mind consists of only 10 percent of the total mind. 3. figurative. Attributed to inanimate things as privy to, sharing in, or witnessing human actions or secrets. Chiefly poetic. [Compare frequent use of classical Latin conscius in this sense in poetry. With quot. 1667 compare quorum nox conscia sola est ‘of which only night is witness’ (Ovid Metamorphoses 13. 15).] ΚΠ 1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L4^v With Oath, Magnificates his Merit; and bespaules The conscious Time, with humorous Fome. View more context for this quotation 1655 J. Denham Coopers Hill (new ed.) 14 Thence to the coverts, and the conscious Groves, The scenes of his past triumphs, and his loves. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 521 So all ere day spring, under conscious Night Secret they finish'd. View more context for this quotation 1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 202 Examin the prisons of the inquisitions, the groans of which those walls are conscious. 1769 G. Keate Netley Abbey (ed. 2) 24 He spoke—resolv'd—The menac'd Arches frown'd, The conscious Walls in sudden Conflict join'd, Crush'd the pale Wretch in one promiscuous Wound, And left this Monument of Wrath behind. 1814 R. Southey Roderick xv. 181 If the conscious air had caught the sound. 1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xvi. 278 To these conscious stones we two pilgrims were alike known and near. a1901 C. James Poems (1903) 41 She swoons in bliss, the conscious rocks recede. 1991 B. S. McDougall & Chen Maiping tr. Bei Dao Old Snow 17 A drop of blood marks the final point On the map spread over death Conscious stones underneath my feet Forgotten by me. 4. Present to the mind or to consciousness; known to oneself, felt; of which the possessor is aware. Also: resulting from the possession of awareness or consciousness. In Psychology often opposed to unconscious and subconscious. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective] > present to consciousness conscious1603 1603 T. Powell Welch Bayte to Spare Prouender sig. B2 For mine owne parte I doe belieue there is no other Atheist but of conscious ambition. 1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 89 That love is but the spurious, and adulterate issue of a conscious and guilty feare. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 801 They..howle and gnaw My Bowels, their repast; then bursting forth Afresh with conscious terrours vex me round. View more context for this quotation 1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iii. 137 All Animal Life, Sense and Self-perception, Conscious Vnderstanding and Personality are Generated and Corrupted, successively Educed out of Nothing and Reduced into Nothing again. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 4. ⁋6 She knows she is handsom, but she knows she is good. Conscious Beauty adorned with conscious Virtue! 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. xii. 188 His face became pale with conscious guilt. 1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. x. 235 With a Power, which appears almost a conscious one. a1791 T. Blacklock Poems (1793) 48 Thy conscious charms, thy practis'd arts, Those adventitious beams that round thee shine. 1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets i. 16 Knowledge is conscious power. 1877 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (ed. 3) iv. 83 Truth..gives conscious rank to its possessors. 1888 H. James in Cent. Mag. Dec. 225/1 And the most alien of the cockneyfied..is free to admit, with conscious pride, that he has submitted to Londonization. 1892 B. C. Burt Hist. Mod. Philos. I. iii. 301 It is unconscious rather than conscious volition that constitutes the essence of personality. 1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 9 Mr. Opie sank with conscious luxury into his corner. 1962 F. Livson in S. Reichard et al. Aging & Personality ii. v. 71 At a less conscious level, retirement may imply loss of manhood. 2008 B. Dainton Phenomenal Self v. 137 We can imagine losing all our bodily feeling (at least from the neck down) and continuing to exist, provided that we continue to think conscious thoughts and have emotional feelings. †5. Sharing the knowledge of something with another, privy. Also with to, of. Obsolete. [With quot. 1651 compare the classical Latin construction of conscius with genitive of the thing known and dative of the person with whom the knowledge is shared.] ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > entrusted with secrets privya1393 derna1400 secret1470 secre?1553 private1601 conscious1609 confident of1659 fellow-knowing1662 confidant1816 1609 S. Daniel Civile Wares (rev. ed.) viii. lxv. 220 Those who were about him, presently Voyded the roome, and left him to confer Alone with his faire Suter priuatly (As they who to his courses conscious were). 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. vii. 31 Where two, or more men, know of one and the same fact, they are said to be Conscious of it one to another. 1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 452 Their King was in no wise conscious to the murder. 1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 88 The same God might be a conscious or fellow-knowing revenger..of our sin. 1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 223 The Mother..is not conscious to any thing that is done there. 1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. ii. 88 Nothing is to be conceal'd from the other self. To be a friend and to be conscious are terms equivalent. 1828 C. Wordsworth King Charles I 231 His Wife ‘being conscious’ to the transaction. 6. Having a conscience; conscientious.Relatively rare. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > [adjective] > conscientious faithfulc1400 good-heartedc1425 rigorousa1500 nice-conscienced1530 scrupulous1542 conscionable1549 punctual1609 conscientious1611 tender-conscienceda1617 conscious1628 1628 R. Hayman Quodlibets ii. 23 Whilst concious men of smallest sinnes haue ruth, Bold sinners count great Sinnes, but tricks of youth. 1654 A. Cokayne tr. G. F. Loredano Dianea ii. 90 One of the most worthy and consciousest Princes [It. Vno del più degni, e de i più cortesi Principi] that belonged to the service of the Crown. 1786 J. Hewlett Serm. on Different Subj. xi. 231 Nor is it enough that he is a good and conscious man. 1863 in Texas Methodist Hist. Q. (1910) Apr. 354 He was a most conscious man, faithful in the performance of his duty. a1910 ‘O. Henry’ Sixes & Sevens (1911) xxi. 236 Luke was..one of the most conscious men in the world. He never knew much book law, but he had the inner emoluments of justice and mercy inculcated into his system. 2003 R. W. Braswell Jeffrey vii. 139 He was a good and conscious man, and he provided for us the best he could. 7. a. Resulting from or showing awareness of one's own appearance, thoughts, or actions, especially undue awareness. Chiefly literary. ΚΠ a1665 J. Quarles tr. J. Cats Self-conflict (1680) 100 Sure modesty is womens chiefest grace, A lowly eye, an humble bashful face, Even then that blushes with a conscious red, When, though of Marriage, ought to her is said. 1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) ii. 6 The proud Parnassian sneer, The conscious simper, and the jealous leer, Mix on his look. 1827 T. Carlyle Richter in Edinb. Rev. June 186 He moves about with a conscious air. 1881 H. James Portrait of Lady II. v. 76 His intelligent eyes were fixed upon Isabel's with the conscious look of a man who has brought himself to confess something. 1937 I. Compton-Burnett Daughters & Sons iv. 103 Returning with a conscious flush, which marked his relation to his niece. 2002 J. Stevenson Shadow King (2003) xi. 264 They are the softest, most melting, amorous letters wit can contrive; they would raise a conscious blush on the face of a Vestal, though there is not a line obscene or disgraceful. b. Aware of one's own appearance, thoughts, or actions, especially unduly so or in a way that causes discomfort. Also with about, of. Cf. self-conscious adj. 4. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > affected behaviour or affectation > [adjective] > excessively self-aware conscious1668 self-conscious1825 1668 R. Howard Great Favourite Prol., in Dramat. Wks. (1722) El. The Poet and the Company are wrangling within. Nepp. About what? El. A Prologue. Nepp. Why, is't an ill one? El. Two to one it had been so if he had writ any; but the conscious Poet, with much Modesty, and very Civilly and Sillily—has writ none. 1796 F. Burney Camilla IV. viii. vii. 324 Their eyes met not again; delighted and conscious, she turned hers hastily away. 1841 E. Leslie in Gift 1842 180 Matilda simpered, and cast down her eyes, and looked conscious about nothing, and said in a low voice, ‘It is a Mr. Carteret, a young lawyer, belonging to a great Jersey family, and heir to a large estate.’ 1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. App. 93 When a person is said to be morbidly or excessively conscious, there is indicated an excessive attention to the feelings and the thoughts, and a slender amount of occupation with outward things. 1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway 11 Ah yes, she did of course; what a nuisance; and felt very sisterly and oddly conscious at the same time of her hat. 1953 H. E. Bates in Lilliput July 57/2 She was very conscious of her legs; she had always been terribly aware of their ugliness. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iii. 61 She was conscious about getting ready for houseguests—her father and stepmother. 1997 A. Walker Franz Liszt III. iii. 31 By the mid-1850s Marie's golden hair had turned snowy white, a fact of which she was at first unduly conscious, since she thought it made her look prematurely aged. 8. Philosophy and Psychology. Having the faculty of consciousness; characterized by the presence of consciousness. See consciousness n. 2a.See also conscious subject at subject n. 9. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [adjective] conscient1605 conscientional1652 conscious1725 consciential1886 the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > self-consciousness > [adjective] > aware of itself conscious1725 1725 I. Watts Logick i. ii. 18 Among Substances some are thinking or conscious Beings, or have a Power of Thought, such as the Mind of Man, God, Angels. 1766 London Mag. Jan. 5/2 Dr. L.— considers the soul as a essential part or quality, if you will, of the compound, conscious being, man. 1797 J. Walker Crit. Pronouncing Dict. (ed. 2) 171/2 To Understand,..to have use of the intellectual faculties; to be an intelligent or conscious being; to be informed. 1825 T. T. Biddulph Theol. Early Patriarchs II. xxxvii. 413 Than that God left his fallen but conscious creatures, for almost two thousand years, without any specific acquaintance with the method which his wisdom and mercy had devised. 1876 J. B. Mozley Serm. preached Univ. of Oxf. xvi. 264 Man..as a conscious being, conscious of himself, and conscious of others around him. 1900 F. S. Turner Knowl., Belief & Certitude i. iv. 224 What brings to light the conscious being is reflection on the plurality of states and objects, in all of which the conscious being is the uniting fact. 1949 J. Loewenberg Dialogues from Delphi viii. 270 The facts and events that occasion distress and affliction, pity and fear,..are painful or lamentable only from the point of view of sentient or conscious creatures whose aims or purposes they frustrate or defeat. 2006 B. Gert et al. Bioethics (ed. 2) xi. 292 Although death is a biological phenomenon common to members of all species, criteria for the death of a plant are not as precise as the criteria for the death of a conscious animal. 9. a. Done or created deliberately; intentional. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > [adjective] > performed with intention bethoughtc1200 expressa1400 wilfula1400 purposedc1422 purpensed1436 malice prepensed1454 aforethought1472 studiedc1475 setc1485 voluntary1495 deliberate?1527 willing1550 witting1553 propensed1560 fore-intendeda1586 affected1586 designed1586 determinate1586 intended1592 deliberated1594 uncasual1614 recollecteda1616 resolved1624 industriousa1628 intentionate1631 pre-intended1636 advised1642 malice prepense1647 sedentary1647 propense1650 consultive1651 (crime, evil, etc.) of forethought1692 conscious1726 intentionala1729 systematic1746 studious1750 systematical1750 prepensive1752 advertent1832 self-conscious1832 volitive1839 designful1852 purposeful1853 purposive1864 thought-controlled1926 1726 2nd Enq. Reasons Conduct Great Brit. 9 An exorbitant and enormous Ambition, in short, was not so much Cæsar's Foible, as his conscious and deliberate Crime. 1745 H. Winder Crit. & Chronol. Hist. Rise Knowl. I. xii. 170 The Ocean and the Earth exercised as much Reason and conscious Design, in sending up Vapours and vegetable Juices, as the Sun did in sending forth that prolific Heat. 1837 J. Jones Bk. Young 84 Not to live to God and eternity with a conscious decision of the soul, is a demonstration that..we are corrupt and depraved creatures. 1860 B. F. Westcott Introd. Study Gospels (ed. 5) vi. 323 A..sequence..which few will attribute to an apt coincidence or to a conscious design. 1922 A. K. Hanna Home Econ. in Elem. & Secondary Schools ii. xv. 289 There is need for a conscious decision..as to whether the material in these grades should be that which is of value to all children, both boys and girls. 1962 J. Braine Life at Top xxvi. 288 With no warning, through no conscious effort I was..happier than I had been since childhood. 2009 B. Linsley in K. K. Durand Buffy meets Acad. iii. 131 Principal Robin Wood is presented as..a human with personal issues that lead him down a path of vengeance and intentional, conscious violence. b. Aware of what one is doing or intending to do; having a purpose and intention in one's actions. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > [adjective] considerate1581 conscious1829 prepense1840 intentional1863 purposive1864 the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosophy of reflection of self > [adjective] self-conscious1685 conscious1829 1829 Ladies' Mag. Aug. 355 And when to claim of thee a wreath The conscious poet may presume, O then thy sweetest incense breathe, O then perennial bloom! 1882 F. W. Farrar Early Days Christianity I. 130 That St. Peter has here been the conscious or unconscious borrower may be regarded as certain. 1924 Rotarian Sept. 48/2 If man can sit down in this deliberate fashion to rationalize his relations with his fellows, if he can thus be the conscious designer of his own institutions, [etc.]. 1944 A. L. Kroeber Configurations of Culture Growth viii. 573 He [sc. Chaucer] is recognized as a definitely conscious poet; one less so might have been either uninfluenced or overwhelmed by impact with Italian literature. 2008 B. Santos de Oliveira in D. van den Heuvel Challenge of Change 281 Those involved..demonstrate the formation of a more conscious professional, who is able to face the challenges presented by themes such as reuse and conservation of historic buildings. 10. Aware of and responding to one's surroundings; having one's mental faculties in an active and waking state. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > [adjective] > conscious alive1592 sensible1678 conscious1728 1728 Z. Mayne Two Diss. conc. Sense & Imagination 187 A Man in Dreaming, for want of being Conscious, knoweth not that he has a Dream. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage (1819) I. iii. 24 Lady Juliana stood the image of despair, and scarcely conscious, admitted in silence the civilities of her new relations. 1841 E. Bulwer-Lytton Night & Morning v. xxi And when at last he was conscious, her face was the first he saw. 1860 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (1883) I. 505 The sister reported that he had become conscious, having recognized her and called her by name. 1904 V. Cross Tomorrow? v. 182 Lucia was conscious, awake. 1961 W. R. Russell & M. L. E. Espir Traumatic Aphasia iii. 23 He was seen within a short time of wounding and was fully conscious without evidence of intracranial damage. 2010 W. Berry Guesthouse p. xxvi Amanda called for an ambulance and her mother was rushed to the hospital, barely conscious. 11. As the second element of compounds formed with nouns, and occasionally adjectives, with the sense ‘conscious of—, aware of—’; class-, fashion-, money-, race-, social-, weight-conscious: see the first element.Some less common formations are illustrated here. ΚΠ 1834 Monthly Repository Oct. 711 Thou dost quell A gentle spirit in each blossom sweet (Which its love-conscious mates for ever pine to greet—And pine in vain !). 1853 J. N. Darby Irrationalism of Infidelity 4 In Christ..I find perfect love to me as a poor sinner, and thus have the possibility of truthfulness and honesty in a sin-conscious soul. 1900 Outlook 29 Dec. 1059/1 But we recognize more and more of life in the ascending grades from the grass to the cattle, from cattle to men, from men merely self-conscious to men who are God-conscious. 1934 H. G. Wells Exper. in Autobiogr. I. ii. 79 I became woman-conscious from those days onward. 1938 B. Russell Power 166 It [sc. a chess-club] might..seek to make more people ‘chess-conscious’. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Mar. p. vi/3 A culture so history-conscious. 2008 Daily Tel. 11 Nov. 5/1 A new breed of cash-conscious women is stalking the High Street. B. n. Philosophy and Psychology. With the. The conscious mind. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > consciousness > [noun] wita1000 i-mindOE mindc1350 common wita1398 advertencec1405 common sense1543 consciousness1678 conscious1852 1852 Soul's Welfare 3 20 Never till, by the long continued repetition of crimes, the conscious is rendered callous, will it, if aware of the demerit of sin, be exempted from gloomy recollections and dismal anticipations. 1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. iii. 34 They figure in her dreams in forms which imply moral condemnation in the unconscious as well as in the conscious, as demons or brutal people. 2000 C. M. Robeck in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 531/2 The rediscovery of the human psyche by Pentecostals comes in a most pronounced fashion within speaking in tongues. The conscious and the subconscious seem to be fully integrated under the hand of the Holy Spirit. Phrases conscious to oneself now somewhat archaic = sense A. 2. [Compare classical Latin conscius sibi conscious to oneself, with the genitive of the thing known or with de and the ablative of the thing known.] ΚΠ 1611 R. Bolton Disc. State True Happinesse 127 He is conscious to himselfe, of an honest ciuill life, of a sober formall cariage in the affaires of religion, and that he is not infamous with any notoriousnesse in the world. 1620 J. Ussher Serm. (1621) 1 Being so conscious vnto my selfe of my great weakenesse. 1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 305 Wherin a Man is Conscious [MS. and ed. 1612 conscient] to himselfe, that he is most Defectiue. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. i. 43 If they say, That a man is always conscious to himself of thinking. 1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 43 Their own Medicines, which they must needs be conscious to themselves, were good for nothing. 1779 E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 303 If I were not conscious to myself of having done every thing in my power, to warn the nation. 1810 Christian Observer Jan. 12/2 Surely there is not one person present who is not conscious to himself that he has committed many and great transgressions against God. 1877 E. Payson Doctor Tom xiv. 162 Was it enough that she seemed so conscious to herself of the rectitude of her conduct? 1901 Bible Student Mar. 132/2 The prophets..not only did not in every instance comprehend the import of the message with which they were charged, but were conscious to themselves that its meaning eluded them even when they..prayerfully sought to lay hold upon it. 2005 P. Tickle Prayer is Place (2010) xxviii Most of the time, of course, when I am speaking, I am just speaking, and conscious to myself in much the same way that I am conscious to myself when I am driving: pleasantly aware, certainly alert, but confident of arriving somewhere before too long. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.n.1573
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