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

---

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• preconsciously adverb
• preconsciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of preconscious

First recorded in 1855–60; pre- + conscious

Example Sentences

The study's author, anthropologist Michael Winkelman of Arizona State, concluded that drumming "produces pleasurable experiences, enhanced awareness of preconscious dynamics, release of emotional trauma, and reintegration of self."

From Salon • Aug. 29, 2021

It’s not my favorite of his books, perhaps because he’s working to conjure his father’s voice, rather than taking dictation from his preconscious as in the other, subtler books.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2020

Central to his thinking was the concept of “presence” — a preconscious apprehension, usually stimulated by the natural world, of “time transfigured by the moment,” as he once put it.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2016

Kant argued that space as we know it is a preconscious organizing feature of the human mind, a scaffold upon which we’re able to understand the physical world of objects, extension and motion.

From Scientific American • Jun. 3, 2013

I am now scanning the material in your preconscious with the intent of synthesis, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

From Bad Medicine by Sheckley, Robert