consciousness

Universal Words noun [U] 1 the state of being able to use your senses and mental powers to understand what is happening: I can't remember any more-I must have lost consciousness. * She did not regain consciousness and died the next day. 2 the state of being aware of sth: his consciousness of the challenge facing him * surviving traces of class-consciousness (= consciousness of different classes in society) 3 the ideas and opinions of a person or group: her newly-developed political consciousness * issues affecting the popular consciousness of the time seealsoSTREAMOFCONSCIOUSNESS