Translingual

Etymology

From Latin sapiens.

Noun

sapiens

1. Used as a specific epithet.

Derived terms

• Homo sapiens

English

Noun

sapiens ‎(plural sapiens)

1. Homo sapiens.
   • 2000, William H. Libaw, How we got to be human: subjective minds with objective bodies‎, page 277:

     The earliest sapiens were gatherers, scavengers, and hunters of food.

   • 2005, Sherwood L. Washburn, Classification and Human Evolution‎, page 335:

     Even if we assume that the rate of change was slow and the evolving population large, we must still assume that sapiens was rather isolated.

Anagrams

• pansies

Latin

Etymology

Present active participle of sapiō ‎(“discern, be capable of discerning”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.pi.eːns/

Participle

sapiēns m, f, n ‎(genitive sapientis); third declension

1. discerning, wise, judicious
2. discreet
3. (substantive) a wise man, sage, philosopher
   • Anonymous (Can we date this quote?)

     Sapiens nihil affirmat quod non probat

     "a wise man asserts nothing which he does not (ap)prove."

Inflection

Third declension.

¹When used purely as an adjective.

• comparative: sapientior, superlative: sapientissimus

Descendants

• English: sapient, Homo sapiens
• Italian: sapiente
• Old French: savant, sachant, sapient
• Portuguese: sapiente
• Romanian: sapient

References

• sapiens in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sapiens in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• SAPIENS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “sapiens”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a wise man is in no way affected by this: hoc nihil ad sapientem pertinet
    
  • it is incompatible with the nature of a wise man; the wise are superior to such things: hoc in sapientem non cadit
    
  • what do we understand by 'a wise man': quem intellegimus sapientem?