awareness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English aware

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English awareness

From aware + -ness.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈwɛɹ.nəs/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈwɛə.nəs/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /əˈweː.nəs/
• (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /əˈweə.nəs/
• (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /əˈwiə.nəs/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /əˈweɹ.nəs/
• (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /əˈwɜː(ɹ).nəs/
• Hyphenation: aware‧ness
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)nəs

Noun

awareness (usually uncountable, plural awarenesses)

1. The state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer.

   I gradually passed from sleep to full awareness.

2. The state or quality of being aware of something.

   raise awareness of a topic

   The awareness of one type of idea naturally fosters an awareness of another idea

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 8:

     Like a mind moving on a Möbius strip of events, one's consciousness goes over the same territory again and again without ever becoming aware of the nature of awareness.

   • 2025 July 9, Oliver Wheeler, “Action stations...”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 68:

     With the growing awareness of climate change, congestion, and regional inequality, rail transport has re-emerged as a solution.

Synonyms

• (state of consciousness): consciousness, wakefulness
• (state of being aware of something): knowledge, consciousness

Derived terms

• aided awareness
• awareness band
• awareness bracelet
• awareness ribbon
• brand awareness
• choiceless awareness
• coawareness
• cyberawareness
• ecoawareness
• large group awareness training
• large-group awareness training
• locale-awareness
• meta-awareness
• nonawareness
• self-awareness
• situational awareness
• situation awareness
• terrain awareness and warning system
• top of mind awareness
• top-of-mind awareness
• unaided awareness
• well-awareness

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: aweanes

Translations

the state of consciousness — see also consciousness

• Arabic: وعي (ar)
• Bulgarian: съзнание (bg) n (săznanie)
• Catalan: consciència (ca) f, conscienciació (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 意識 / 意识 (zh) (yìshí), 覺悟 / 觉悟 (zh) (juéwù)

• Czech: vědomí (cs) n
• Dutch: besef (nl), bewustzijn (nl)
• Finnish: tietoisuus (fi), taju (fi), tolkku (fi), tajunta (fi)
• French: conscience (fr) f
• German: Bewusstsein (de) n, Achtsamkeit (de) f, Wahrnehmung (de) f, Aufmerksamkeit (de) f, Sensitivität (de) f, Gefühl (de) n
• Greek: συνείδηση (el) f (syneídisi)
• Hindi: जागरूकता (hi) f (jāgrūktā)
• Hungarian: éberség (hu), tudat (hu), érzékelés (hu), észlelés (hu)
• Indonesian: keinsafan (id), kesadaran (id)
• Italian: coscienza (it) f
• Japanese: 意識 (ja) (いしき, ishiki)
• Kazakh: сана (sana)
• Latvian: apziņa f, samaņa f
• Māori: tūoho
• Persian: هشیاری (fa) (hošyâri)
• Plautdietsch: Bewustheit f
• Polish: świadomość (pl) f
• Portuguese: consciência (pt) f
• Romanian: conștiință (ro) f
• Russian: созна́ние (ru) n (soznánije), осозна́ние (ru) n (osoznánije)
• Swedish: medvetande (sv) n, medvetenhet (sv) c, iakttagelseförmåga (sv) c, aktsamhet (sv) c, insikt (sv) c
• Tagalog: ino, kainuhan
• Tamil: விழிப்பு (ta) (viḻippu)
• Thai: ความตระหนัก (th)
• Tocharian B: īme
• Turkish: bilinç (tr), bilinçlenme (tr), farkındalık (tr), uyanıklık (tr), şuur (tr), şuurlanma (tr)
• Ukrainian: свідо́мість (uk) f (svidómistʹ), усвідо́млення n (usvidómlennja)

the state or quality of being aware of something — see also knowledge,‎ consciousness

• Bulgarian: осведоменост (bg) f (osvedomenost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 認識 / 认识 (zh) (rènshi)

• Czech: uvědomění n
• Dutch: bewustzijn (nl), zich bewust zijn van
• Esperanto: konscio
• Finnish: tietoisuus (fi)
• French: connaissance (fr) f
• German: Bekanntheit (de) f, Gewahrsein n, Gewahrwerden n, Erkenntnis (de) f, Kenntnis (de) f, Aufklärung (de) f, Bewusstheit f, Erfassung (de) f, Verständnis (de) n
• Greek: επίγνωση (el) f (epígnosi), γνώση (el) f (gnósi)
• Hungarian: tudatosság (hu)
• Indonesian: keawasan, keengahan (id)
• Italian: consapevolezza (it) f, avviso (it) m, conoscenza (it) f, presa di coscienza f
• Japanese: 認識 (ja) (にんしき, ninshiki)
• Latvian: apziņa f, samaņa, izpratne f
• Norwegian: oppmerksomhet (no)
• Persian: آگاهی (fa) (âgâhi)
• Plautdietsch: Bewustheit f
• Polish: świadomość (pl) f
• Portuguese: percepção (pt) f
• Russian: осведомлённость (ru) f (osvedomljónnostʹ), информи́рованность (ru) f (informírovannostʹ)
• Swahili: uamsho
• Swedish: medvetenhet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kainuhan
• Tamil: விழிப்புணர்வு (ta) (viḻippuṇarvu), விழிப்புணர்ச்சி (viḻippuṇarcci)
• Ukrainian: обі́знаність (uk) f (obíznanistʹ)
• Vietnamese: nhận thức (vi) (認識)