conscience French · revision 16707

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1165, Livre des Rois|origins=la sciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ̃.sjɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''conscience''' ''f'' (plural consciences)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''cunscience'', ''concience'', ''coscience'', ''consienche''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|cōnscientia|t=shared knowledge; inner knowledge, consciousness; moral sense]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 1059a) from [[m|la|cōnsciō|t=to know together; to be conscious of]], from [[m|la|com-|t=with]] and [[m|la|sciō|t=to know]] (see [[science]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word, matching [[grc|συνείδησις|tr=suneídēsis]], first meant knowledge shared with someone, wavering between “confidence” and “connivance”; applied to knowledge of oneself, it took a moral sense.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Compare [[pro|conciencia]], [[es|conciencia]] and [[it|coscienza]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Livre des Rois'' (about 1165) uses it for the inner sense that judges right and wrong: ''Sa cunscience le remorst'' “his conscience pricked him”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 17th century the word had only this moral value, seen in ''bone conscience'' (1230), ''en conscience'' (1306), ''cas de conscience'' (1609) and ''liberté de conscience'' (before 1569, Louis de Condé); ''conscience publique'' (Montesquieu, 1721) is the moral opinion of a society.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Some classical phrases keep the old idea that the conscience lay in the chest or stomach: Molière's ''mettre la main à la conscience'' (1673) “to examine oneself honestly”, and ''se mettre un verre de vin sur la conscience'' (1690).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Applied to work, it gave ''conscience professionnelle'' and, among printers, work paid by time, ''en conscience'' (1723).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ The psychological sense, the faculty of knowing one's own reality, came from the classical philosophers (Malebranche, 1676) and was generalized by Rousseau (1762).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Derivatives include [[consciencieux]] (1500), [[inconscience]] (1838) and [[subconscience]] (1907).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1165 – Moral conscience, ''Livre des Rois''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1230 – ''Bone conscience''.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1569 – ''Liberté de conscience''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1500 – [[consciencieux]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1609 – ''Cas de conscience''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1673 – ''Mettre la main à la conscience'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1676 – Psychological sense, Malebranche.^(TLFi)

+ * 1721 – ''Conscience publique'', Montesquieu.^(TLFi)

+ * 1762 – Awareness of one's states and acts, Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|consciousness]], the immediate knowledge one has of one's own mental activity: ''la conscience de soi'', ''perdre conscience'', to faint.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Awareness: ''avoir conscience de'', ''prendre conscience de'', ''prise de conscience''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|conscience]], the moral sense of right and wrong: ''avoir la conscience tranquille'', ''en son âme et conscience'', ''cas de conscience''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Liberté de conscience'': freedom of thought and belief, ''objecteur de conscience'', [[m|en|conscientious objector]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Conscientiousness: ''conscience professionnelle''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[consciencieux]]

+ * [[inconscience]]

+ * [[subconscience]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[conscient]]

+ * [[science]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}