English
sentient
Sentient comes from Latin sentiēns ‘feeling, perceiving’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to feel’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-‘to feel’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō‘feel, perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiēns‘feeling, perceiving’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965sentient
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-‘to feel’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sentiō‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiō‘feel, perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsentiēns‘feeling, perceiving’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965sentient
Earliest quotation: 1965, Philip José Farmer: “The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to feel’
through Proto-Italic *sentiō ‘to feel, to sense, to perceive’
senseless, insensible, antisense, 28 more
through Latin sentiō ‘feel, perceive’
sense, sensitive, consent, consensus, sensible, sensor, sensation, scent, sensual, sensibility, resent, sensuous, assent, sensu, 34 more
through Latin sentiēns ‘feeling, perceiving’
Today it means
adj Experiencing sensation, thought, or feeling.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sent- / sentient