Homo sapiens
the species of bipedal primates to which modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) belong, characterized by a large brain, a nearly vertical forehead, a skeletal build lighter and teeth smaller than earlier humans, and dependence upon language and the creation and utilization of complex tools: the species has existed for about 200,000 years.: See also Boskop man, Cro-Magnon, Marmes man, Niah Cave.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of Homo sapiens
1Words Nearby Homo sapiens
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use Homo sapiens in a sentence
Understanding odds has never been a strength of Homo sapiens.
A Doctor Explains Why Cruise Ships Should Be Banned | Kent Sepkowitz | November 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn some very real sense, 21st-century Hollywood has forgotten how to use living, breathing Homo sapiens in action movies.
Game of Thrones’ 'The Watchers on the Wall': The Battle of Castle Black Is One For the Ages | Andrew Romano | June 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut in terms of beneficial public-health impact, nothing Homo sapiens has invented thus far outpaces the vaccine.
He'd reveal definite indications of belonging to Homo sapiens only when drinking beer and talking about his holes.
The Holes and John Smith | Edward W. LudwigBut an extremely primitive race has survived until the present time to demonstrate the original type of Homo sapiens.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | Various
There are structural differences so far removed from ours that they could not possibly be Homo sapiens.
Man of Many Minds | E. Everett EvansWas the oldest Homo sapiens pliocene or miocene, or yet more ancient?
Man's Place in Nature and Other Essays | Thomas Henry HuxleyMan (Homo sapiens) is the only native representative of this order in our country.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition | Vernon L. Kellogg
British Dictionary definitions for Homo sapiens
/ (ˈsæpɪˌɛnz) /
the specific name of modern man; the only extant species of the genus Homo. This species also includes extinct types of primitive man such as Cro-Magnon man: See also man (def. 5)
Origin of Homo sapiens
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for Homo sapiens
[ sā′pē-ənz ]
The modern species of humans. Archaic forms of Homo sapiens probably evolved around 300,000 years ago or earlier in Africa, and anatomically modern fossils are known from about 100,000 years ago. All humans now living belong to the subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens. The closest living relative of Homo sapiens is the chimpanzee. See more at archaic Homo sapiens Cro-Magnon Neanderthal.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for Homo sapiens
[ (hoh-moh say-pee-uhnz) ]
The biological classification of modern humans. Homo sapiens is Latin for “the wise human” or “the clever human.” The earliest Homo sapiens was Neanderthal, who developed about 150,000 years ago. Sometimes modern humans are further classified into the subspecies of Homo sapiens neanderthalis (Neanderthals) and Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnons and present-day humans). (See Linnean classification.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse