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Consciousness

 - 4 dictionary results

con⋅scious⋅ness

[kon-shuhs-nis]
–noun
1. the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.
2. the thoughts and feelings, collectively, of an individual or of an aggregate of people: the moral consciousness of a nation.
3. full activity of the mind and senses, as in waking life: to regain consciousness after fainting.
4. awareness of something for what it is; internal knowledge: consciousness of wrongdoing.
5. concern, interest, or acute awareness: class consciousness.
6. the mental activity of which a person is aware as contrasted with unconscious mental processes.
7. Philosophy. the mind or the mental faculties as characterized by thought, feelings, and volition.
8. raise one's consciousness, to increase one's awareness and understanding of one's own needs, behavior, attitudes, etc., esp. as a member of a particular social or political group.

Origin:
1625–35; conscious + -ness
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Consciousness
con·scious·ness   (kŏn'shəs-nĭs)   
n.  
  1. The state or condition of being conscious.

  2. A sense of one's personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group: Love of freedom runs deep in the national consciousness.

    1. Special awareness or sensitivity: class consciousness; race consciousness.

    2. Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation: a movement aimed at raising the general public's consciousness of social injustice.

  3. In psychoanalysis, the conscious.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: con·scious·ness
Pronunciation: 'kän-ch&-sn&s
Function: noun
1 : the totality in psychology of sensations,perceptions, ideas, attitudes, and feelings of which an individual or a group is aware at any given time or within a given time span consciousness, such as sleep, dreamingand hypnosis —Bob Gaines>
2 : waking life (as that to which one returns after sleep, trance, or fever) in which one's normal mental powers are present consciousness>
3 : the upper part of mental life of which the person is aware as contrasted with unconscious processes
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

consciousness con·scious·ness (kŏn'shəs-nĭs)
n.

  1. The state or condition of being conscious.

  2. A sense of one's personal or collective identity, especially the complex of attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or a group.

  3. In psychoanalysis, the conscious.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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