Latin Love: sci

The root of this "knowledge" word tree usually appears as "sci." Its most famous branch is the word "science."
More Latin Love, Volume I lists:
vocare, portare, struere, and via!
ELA Common Core State Standard: "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word."
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. conscious
    having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts
    He was conscious of four familiar presences standing with him in the shadows beside the wall. Stardust
    The prefix con- means "with" in this case, and the root sci- means "knowledge," so the word conscious means "with knowledge," or, "with awareness."
  2. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    The departure helped cement his reputation as a comic with a social conscience, willing to pass up tens of millions of dollars because of a principle. New York Times (Jan 2, 2018)
    When your conscience troubles you, it is because you know that you've done wrong. You may be able to deny your wrong-doing to others, keeping them unaware, but you can't fool your own conscience.
  3. conscientious
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    Because he thought of himself as careful and conscientious, he spent considerable time looking for his assistants. The Haunting of Hill House
    A conscientious person works with great attention and knowledge of the task at hand. To be conscientious is to attend to details, to be highly aware (knowledgeable) of the task, and to be thorough.
  4. omniscient
    knowing, seeing, or understanding everything
    Perhaps it was the feeling that I was in the hands of an omniscient narrator rather than a journalist, a narrator who intimately knew the thoughts and feelings of her main character. The New Yorker (Jun 11, 2018)
    "Omni-" means "all" ("omnivore"), so "omniscient" means "all-knowing." This word is often used in a religious context, referring to an all-knowing God. It is also used when talking about stories. A narrator who is telling the story, but not a character in it, is said to be "omniscient," or all-knowing about the feelings and activities of all of the characters. In other stories, the narrator is not all-knowing, but just another character telling the story from his point of view.
  5. subconscious
    just below the level of awareness
    But these ideas, to a great extent, are the result of a subconscious instinct, which is a form of unrealized reason. Scientific American (Oct 5, 2012)
    The prefix sub- means "under," so subconscious thoughts and feelings are those that lie under the conscious level. They exist, but we are unaware of them. Subconscious thoughts and feelings may express themselves in dreams or in vague feelings that we can't explain.
  6. unconscious
    without active awareness
    They are involuntarily managed in the vast processing system of the unconscious mind. Forbes (May 14, 2013)
    When you do something unconsciously, you do it automatically. An unconscious person is "knocked out," either through a deep sleep, anesthesia, a head injury, or a comatose state.
  7. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    At work she felt increasingly self-conscious around male customers.
    If you've ever felt that you looked or acted out of place with a group of people, you know what it is to be self-conscious. Self-consciousness is the opposite of confidence. The term "self-conscious" has a negative connotation, related to embarrassment, lack of confidence, discomfort.
  8. plebiscite
    a vote determining public opinion on a question
    The plebiscite could be put off no longer; on December 15th, the vote was taken. Egan, Maurice Francis
    Etymologically, the word "plebiscite" means "the common people ("pleb")know ("sci"). This is a word that you probably learned, or will learn, in your social studies class.
  9. unconscionable
    lacking a sense of right conduct
    "Numerous people at the time found it unconscionable that Mr. Arridy was sentenced to death," Ritter said.
    When something is unconscionable, it is inexcusable. The word implies a lack of conscience, or, a lack of awareness or caring about one's conscience.
  10. prescience
    the power to foresee the future
    Melissa did not ask in what her mother was vindicated; she had a dull prescience of trouble. Graham, Margaret Collier
    Because "pre-" means "before," the word "prescience" refers to having knowledge beforehand. But the word "prescience" is usually used in a less occult way than words like "omen" and "premonition." A prescient person may know things before they actually happen, but that is probably more because she has well-developed intuition than supernatural powers.
Created on Thu May 16 10:55:37 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Feb 07 17:43:16 EST 2020)

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