conscience
pronunciation
How to pronounce conscience in British English:
UK [ˈkɒnʃəns]
How to pronounce conscience in American English:
US [ˈkɑːnʃəns]
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- Noun:
- motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
- conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
- a feeling of shame when you do something immoral
Word Origin
- conscience
- conscience: [13] Latin conscīre meant ‘be mutually aware’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘with, together’ and scīre ‘know’ (source of English science). To ‘know something with oneself’ implied, in a neutral sense, ‘consciousness’, but also a moral awareness, a mental differentiation between right and wrong, and hence the derived noun conscientia carried both these meanings, via Old French, into English (the more general, amoral, ‘consciousness’ died out in the 18th century).A parallel Latin formation, using *sci-, the base of scīre, was conscius ‘aware’, acquired by English in the 17th century as conscious. Conscientious is also a 17th-century borrowing, ultimately from Latin conscientiōsus.=> science
- conscience (n.)
- early 13c., from Old French conscience "conscience, innermost thoughts, desires, intentions; feelings" (12c.), from Latin conscientia "knowledge within oneself, sense of right, a moral sense," from conscientem (nominative consciens), present participle of conscire "be (mutually) aware," from com- "with," or "thoroughly" (see com-) + scire "to know" (see science). Probably a loan-translation of Greek syneidesis, literally "with-knowledge." Sometimes nativized in Old English/Middle English as inwit. Russian also uses a loan-translation, so-vest, "conscience," literally "with-knowledge."
Example
- 1. Chick flicks are romantic movies without a conscience .
- 2. You answer to no-one but your conscience .
- 3. A clear conscience is number one .
- 4. Shareholders are the ultimate price watchers and lack a conscience .
- 5. Her conscience has been sorely put to the test since 1997 .