Etymograph

English

sapiens

Sapiens comes from Latin sapiēns ‘discerning, wise, judicious’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₁p-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sapjō‘to discern, can tell apart, know’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsapiō‘discern, be capable of discerning’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsapiēns‘discerning, wise, judicious’present active participle of sapiō
  5. mulmodernHomo sapiens
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2000sapiens

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₁p-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sapjō‘to discern, can tell apart, know’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsapiō‘discern, be capable of discerning’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsapiēns‘discerning, wise, judicious’present active participle of sapiō
  5. mulmodernHomo sapiens
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2000sapiens

Earliest quotation: 2000, William H. Libaw: “The earliest sapiens were gatherers, scavengers, and hunters of…”

Linked words

through Latin sapiō ‘discern, be capable of discerning’

sage, savvy, savory, savour, savant, insipid, sabe, 14 more

Today it means

noun A human being (Homo sapiens).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p- / sapiens

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