Etymology Inherited from Middle English aware, iwar, iware, ywar, from Old English ġewær (“aware”), from Proto-West Germanic *gawar, from Proto-Germanic *waraz (“aware, cautious”), from Proto-Indo-European *worós (“attentive”), from *wer- (“to heed; watch out”). Cognate with Dutch gewaar, German gewahr, Danish var, Swedish var, Icelandic varr.
1
Vigilant or on one's guard against danger or difficulty.
Stay aware! Don't let your guard down.
2
Conscious or having knowledge of something; awake.
Are you aware of what is being said about you?
Gotta get going. I wasn’t aware that it was already so late.
3 more examples
“[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
The guard was paying no attention whatever to the running of his train, in total disregard of rules, and, as the recently-published report of a Ministry of Transport Inspecting Officer of Railways shows, there were other disquieting features in the case, such as ignorance on the part of responsible men of rules and appendix instructions and a lax attitude to regulations of which they professed to be aware, combined with failure to look at staff notice boards.1956 September, “Notes and News: The Barby Sidings Accident Report”, in Railway Magazine, page 638:
Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of.2025 April 28, Ross Douthat, Nick Adams, “Condition of America”, in New Left Review, number 152, →ISSN:
Etymology Inherited from Middle English aware, iwar, iware, ywar, from Old English ġewær (“aware”), from Proto-West Germanic *gawar, from Proto-Germanic *waraz (“aware, cautious”), from Proto-Indo-European *worós (“attentive”), from *wer- (“to heed; watch out”). Cognate with Dutch gewaar, German gewahr, Danish var, Swedish var, Icelandic varr.
Conſcience is the director of all our actions, and diſcriminates them all, with the intentions of our hearts; awares us of the crime of the one, and the virtue of the other.1799, William Earle, Junior, Natural Faults: A Comedy, in Five Acts, London: […] sold by Earle and Hemet […], [Act II, scene i], page 17: