sapient

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Possessing discernment and wisdom; learned, wise.
Attempting to appear discerning or wise.
Followed by of: aware or knowledgeable of.
Of a lifeform or species: possessing intelligence or a high degree of self-awareness.
Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Homo sapiens (modern human beings).
Having a (good) flavour or taste; sapid.

noun

A wise person; a sage.
An intelligent, self-aware being.
A human being of the species Homo sapiens.

Pronunciation

/ˈseɪ.pi.ənt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sapient.wav /ˈsæ-/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-sapient.wav

Word forms

sapient more sapient most sapient sapients

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English sapient (“learned, wise”), from Old French sapient, or from its etymon Latin sapient-, a stem of sapiēns (“(adjective) discerning, judicious, wise; (noun) wise man, sage”), the present active participle of sapiō (“to have a flavour of, taste like; (figurative) to have good taste; to have discernment or sense; to be prudent, sensible, or wise”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-, *sep- (“to taste; to try out”). Doublet of savant. The noun is derived from the adjective, and also influenced by Latin sapiēns (noun) (see above).

Synonyms

astute clairvoyant deep frood grounded judicious oracular perspicacious politic profound prudent quick-witted reasonable sagacious sage sapient sensible wise witful sentient intelligent self-aware intelligence sophont

Antonyms

insapient nonsapient

Related words

Homo sapiens insipid insipience insipient sapid sapience sapiens savant savvy

Derived words

insapient nonsapient sapientize sapiently subsapient

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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