Main Entry: con·scious·ness

Pronunciation: \ˈkän-chə-snəs\

Function: noun

1 : the totality in psychology of sensations, perceptions, ideas, attitudes, and feelings of which an individual or a group is aware at any given time or within a given time span <altered states of consciousness, such as sleep, dreaming and hypnosis—Bob Gaines>
2 : waking life (as that to which one returns after sleep, trance, or fever) in which one's normal mental powers are present <the ether wore off and the patient regained consciousness>
3 : the upper part of mental life of which the person is aware as contrasted with unconscious processes