sentient

English

Etymology

From Latin sentiēns (“feeling, perceiving”), present active participle of sentiō.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ti.ənt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.ʃ(i.)ənt/

Adjective

sentient (comparative more sentient, superlative most sentient)

1. Experiencing sensation, thought, or feeling.

   Synonym: sensate

2. Able to consciously perceive through the use of sense faculties.

   Antonym: insensate

3. (loosely, chiefly science fiction) Possessing human-like awareness and intelligence.

   Synonyms: sapient; see also Thesaurus:self-aware

   • 2002, André Bormanis, “Silent Enemy”, in Star Trek: Enterprise, season 1, episode 12, spoken by Jonathan Archer:

     Not even a microbe? I don't want to blow up something that could evolve into a sentient species in a couple of billion years.

   • 2022 June 14, Toby Walsh, “Labelling Google’s LaMDA chatbot as sentient is fanciful. But it’s very human to be taken in by machines”, in The Guardian‎:

     Lemoine has been placed on “paid administrative leave” after publishing a transcript of conversations with LaMDA which he claims support his belief that the chatbot is sentient and comparable to a seven- or eight-year-old child. […] While Lemoine no doubt genuinely believes his claims, LaMDA is likely to be as sentient as a traffic light.

   • 2022 August 5, Cade Metz, “A.I. Is Not Sentient. Why Do People Say It Is?”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     After more than 25 years as an artificial intelligence researcher […] Dr. Goertzel knew he had finally reached the end goal: Desdemona, a machine he had built, was sentient. But a few minutes later, he realized this was nonsense.

Coordinate terms

• sapient

Translations

See also

• conscient

Noun

sentient (plural sentients)

1. Lifeform with the capability to feel sensation, such as pain.
2. (loosely, chiefly science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sentient

   • 1965, Philip José Farmer, 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.

References

Further reading

• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “sentient adj.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “sentient n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.
• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “sentient”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 180–181.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsen.ti.ent/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsen.t͡si.ent/,

Verb

sentient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of sentiō