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preconscious

American  
[pree-kon-shuhs] / priˈkɒn ʃəs /

adjective

  1. Psychoanalysis. absent from but capable of being readily brought into consciousness.

  2. occurring prior to the development of consciousness.

noun

  1. the preconscious portion of the mind; foreconscious.

preconscious British  
/ priːˈkɒnʃəs /

adjective

  1. psychol prior to the development of consciousness

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. psychoanal mental contents or activity not immediately in consciousness but readily brought there

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • preconsciously adverb
  • preconsciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of preconscious

First recorded in 1855–60; pre- + conscious

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.