sapience

American  

[sey-pee-uhns] / ˈseɪ pi əns /

Rarely sapiency

noun

1. great wisdom or sound judgment.

   He did much to inculcate the image of a good prince, demonstrating his sapience at Oxford and doing justice with rigor and compassion.

2. the capacity to be self-aware.

   Language existed long before there was writing, emerging most likely at the same time as sapience, abstract thought, and the genus Homo.

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Etymology

Origin of sapience

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Old French, from Latin sapientia “wisdom,” from sapient-, stem of sapiēns + -ia -ia ( def. ); sapient ( def. )

Example Sentences

She continues with more sapience, offering Gerri as a sounding board.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2023

The legal lines defining who is in and who is out of the arc of legal protection are not, as Happy’s case shows, based on sapience or sentience or other rational boundaries.

From Slate • Jun. 17, 2022

Such sapience only fully blossoms with maturity and hindsight, which "PEN15" creators and stars Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine fully capitalize upon in the final descent of their series' arc.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2021

They changed both law and policing, he believes, but most of all, they demonstrated the heroism and political sapience of the Queen.

From The Guardian • Jan. 11, 2013

But the ‘prince de toute sapience et de toute comédie’ has not yet uttered his last word. 

From Views and Reviews Essays in appreciation by Henley, William Ernest