consciousness vs cognisance

consciousness and cognisance both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
consciousness	Yes	No	No	No
cognisance	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, consciousness and cognisance are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of consciousness include awareness, cognizance, knowingness.

consciousness (noun)	cognisance (noun)
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation	having knowledge of
having knowledge of