Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “awareness” come from?

Awareness comes from Old English -nes, a suffix forming abstract nouns, combined with aware, which derives from Proto-Germanic waraz and ultimately Proto-Indo-European wer-, meaning to perceive or notice.

awareness (English): The state or level of consciousness where sense...

Definitions

  1. The state or level of consciousness where sense...

Ancestry of “awareness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-nessAppended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the...
2Middle English-nesseAffixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns...
3Old English-nesUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
4Proto-West Germanic-nassīUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
5Proto-Germanic-inassuz-ness
6Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
7Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
8Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
9Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

Words derived from “awareness”

  • nonawareness
  • ecoawareness
  • cyberawareness
  • aweanes
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →