conscio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkõː.ski.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔn̠ʲ.ʃi.o]^[1]

Forms

cōnsciō (present infinitive cōnscīre, perfect active cōnscīvī, supine cōnscītum); fourth conjugation, no passive^[1]

Etymology

It is from con- and sciō “to know”.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Horace has nīl cōnscīre sibī “to have nothing on one's conscience”.^[4][5] Köbler dates Horace 65–8 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

With sibi it meant to be conscious of guilt, to have a crime on one's conscience, as in Horace.^[2][4] In Tertullian it meant to know well, as Christ knowing what he was, and Commodian's cōnscientēs are accomplices.^[4][5]

Its adjective cōnscius “knowing, privy to” gave English conscious about 1600, and Etymonline suggests the Latin is probably a loan translation of Greek syneidos.^[3]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace has nīl cōnscīre sibī.^[4][6]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of knowing well.^[4][6]
• c. 1600 – English conscious is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. sibi cōnscīre, to be conscious of guilt.^[2]
2. (Late Latin) To know well.^[4]

Word family

• cōnscientia
• cōnscius

Related words

• cōnscīscō
• sciō
• scīscō
• English conscious

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de