sapient

American  

[sey-pee-uhnt] / ˈseɪ pi ənt /

adjective

1. having or showing great wisdom or sound judgment.

2. having or showing self-awareness.

   sapient life forms.

---

sapient British  

/ ˈseɪpɪənt /

adjective

1. ironic wise or sagacious

---

Other Word Forms

• sapience noun
• sapiency noun
• sapiently adverb
• unsapient adjective
• unsapiently adverb

Etymology

Origin of sapient

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English sapyent, from Latin sapient- (stem of sapiēns, present participle of sapere “to be wise,” literally, “to taste, have taste”), equivalent to sapi- verb stem + -ent- adjective suffix; -ent

Example Sentences

Research also finds that feline characteristics may have rubbed off on their homo sapient counterparts.

From Salon

He wants to preserve a record of humanity that could survive for eons, to be read by successors to Homo sapiens on Earth or by sapient extraterrestrials.

From Science Magazine

The movie is basically Spike Jonze’s movie Her, about a sapient AI companion and the man who falls in love with her, retooled as a comedy of mild life lessons.

From The Verge

In the game, she says, all of the human characters have different ideas about how sapient AIs are, and how they should be treated.

From The Verge

Aphra says things like: well, eventually humanity’s going to be extinct and there will be a race of sapient beetle people living here instead, so really my problems aren’t all that important.

From The Verge