conscious Copy link Outline I. Aware of one's own existenceII. With ref. to particular conduct; esp. bad conduct • conscious: I. Aware of one's own existence: (a) in philos. sense: conscius: Cartes. 1, 8 (cf. consciousness): or expr. by verb: as, we are c. beings, *ea conditione nati sumus ut nostri ipsorum sensum habeamus (?): we must needs be c. of our own sensations, *aliter fieri non potest quam ut sensus nostros ipsi sentiamus. (b) in ordinary language: capable of feeling; sensu praedĭtus, qui sensum habet, Cic. He was still c., *etiam tum sui (mentis) compos erat: (but compos mentis usu. signifies possession of one's reason, not simple sensibility): she had fainted away and was no longer c., *collapsa erat nec jam sentiebat. II. With ref. to particular conduct; esp. bad conduct: conscius (usu. with dat. of pron. reflect. and gen. of thing): c. of no fault, sibi nullius culpae c., Cic.: a mind c. of rectitude, mens sibi c. recti, Virg.: I am c. that I have never been too desirous of life, mihi sum c. nunquam me nimis cupidum vitae fuisse, Cic. Phr.: to be c. of nothing (wrong), to grow pale from no fault, nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa, Hor.: v. aware, to be.