Bewusstsein

See also: Bewußtsein

German

Alternative forms

• Bewußtsein (superseded)

Etymology

bewusst (“aware, conscious”) +‎ sein (“to be”). The word became common in speech through the influence of Martin Luther, who used it frequently.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈvʊstzaɪ̯n/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Bewusstsein n (strong, genitive Bewusstseins, no plural)

1. consciousness, awareness

Usage notes

The spelling Bewusstsein has been the prescribed spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform). In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it had already been standard since ⟨ß⟩ was deprecated in the 1930s. In the affected areas, the previous spelling (Bewußtsein) is now less common, and may be regarded as a misspelling.

Declension

Declension of Bewusstsein [sg-only, neuter, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Bewusstsein
genitive	eines	des	Bewusstseins
dative	einem	dem	Bewusstsein
accusative	ein	das	Bewusstsein

Hyponyms

• Klassenbewusstsein
• Problembewusstsein ("awareness of a problem or problems")
• Selbstbewusstsein

 

Further reading

• “Bewusstsein” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Bewusstsein” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Bewusstsein” in Duden online
• Bewusstsein on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de