Etymologically
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conscio

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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

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