sentient
English
Etymology
From Latin sentiēns (“feeling, perceiving”), present active participle of sentiō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃ(i)ənt/, /ˈsɛn.ti.ənt/
Adjective
sentient (comparative more sentient, superlative most sentient)
- Experiencing sensation, thought, or feeling.
- Able to consciously perceive through the use of sense faculties.
- (chiefly in science fiction) Possessing human-like awareness and intelligence.
Synonyms
- (able to perceive): sensate
- (human-like awareness): For semantic relationships of this sense, see self-aware in the Thesaurus.
Antonyms
- (able to perceive): insensate
Translations
experiencing sensation, perceiving, thinking, or feeling
science fiction: possessing human-like awareness, knowledge and intelligence
Noun
sentient (plural sentients)
- Lifeform with the capability to feel sensation, such as pain.
- (chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.
- 1965, Farmer, Philip José, The Maker of Universes:
- The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the beach often hitched rides on these creatures, steering them by pressure on exposed nerve centers.
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Synonyms
- (self-aware being): For semantic relationships of this sense, see sentient in the Thesaurus.
See also
References
- “sentient” in Jeff Prucher, editor, Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2007, →ISBN, pages 180–181.
- sentient adj. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project
- sentient n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project
Latin
Verb
sentient
- third-person plural future active indicative of sentiō
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