conscience means the ethical or moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects a person’s own behaviour and forms their attitude to their past actions.
conscience is pronounced /ˈkɒn.ʃəns/.
Why “conscience” is a great word
The inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's own conduct or intentions, often viewed as an inhibiting or motivating faculty. From Middle English conscience, from Old French conscience, from Latin conscientia ('knowledge within oneself'), from consciens (present participle of conscire, 'to be mutually aware, to know in oneself'), from com- ('together') + scire ('to know'). Unlike 'conscious' (which describes the state of being awake and aware) or 'ethics' (which denotes an external, codified system of principles), conscience is the internal tribunal that sits in perpetual session. It is the cold prickle on the skin before a lie, the heavy knot in the stomach after a cruelty, and the quiet, unsought warmth that follows a secret kindness—the solitary, incorruptible witness to the self.
Etymology
From Middle English conscience, from Old French conscience, from Latin conscientia (“knowledge within oneself”), from consciens, present participle of conscire (“to know, to be conscious (of wrong)”), from com- (“together”) + scire (“to know”).
noun
- The ethical or moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects a person’s own behaviour and forms their attitude to their past actions.e.g.“Your conscience is your highest authority.”
- A personification of the moral sense of right and wrong, usually in the form of a person, a being or merely a voice that gives moral lessons and advices.
- Consciousness; thinking; awareness, especially self-awareness.e.g.“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.