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conscience

cons·cience

UK/ˈkɒn.ʃəns/ US/ˈkɒn.tʃəns/ common

noun

1.

motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person''s thoughts and actions

Synonyms
2.

conformity to one''s own sense of right conduct

  • “a person of unflagging conscience”
3.

a feeling of shame when you do something immoral

  • “he has no conscience about his cruelty”

Origin

From Middle English conscience, from Old French conscience, from Latin conscientia (“knowledge within oneself”) (a calque of Ancient Greek σῠνείδησῐς (sŭneídēsĭs)), from consciens, present participle of conscire (“to know, to be conscious (of wrong)”), from com- (“together”) + scire (“to know”).

Phrases

  • a good conscience is a soft pillow
  • bad conscience
  • conscience clause
  • conscience money
  • conscience round
  • conscience vote
  • examination of conscience
  • exile of conscience

Related words

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.