savant

See also: Savant

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French savant, from Latin sapiō. Doublet of sapient. Sense 3 is a clipping of idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sæˈvɑnt/, /səˈvɑnt/ (most common), /səˈvɑn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsæv.ənt/, /ˈsæv.ɒnt/, /səˈvɑːnt/, /səˈvɒnt/ (most common), /səˈvɒn/

• Audio (Southern England, /ˈsæv.ɒnt/):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (General American) -ɑnt

Noun

savant (plural savants)

1. A person of learning, especially one who is versed in literature or science.
2. A person who is considered eminent because of their achievements.
3. A person with or without significant mental disabilities who is very gifted in one area of activity, such as playing the piano or mental arithmetic.

   Synonym: idiot savant

Synonyms

• (learned person): erudite, expert

Coordinate terms

• (intellectually talented person): genius, prodigy, savante (rare female equivalent)

Derived terms

• autistic savant
• idiot savant
• savantic
• savantish
• savantism
• savant syndrome

Related terms

• Homo sapiens
• insipid
• insipience
• insipient
• sapid
• sapience
• sapiens
• sapient
• savvy

Translations

a person of learning

• Arabic: عَالِم (ar) m (ʕālim)
• Bulgarian: учен (bg) (učen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 学者 (zh) (xuézhě)

• Finnish: oppinut (fi)
• German: Gelehrter (de) m, Gelehrte (de) f
• Italian: saggio (it) m
• Polish: sawant m, sawantka f
• Romanian: savant (ro) m, învățat (ro) m, erudit (ro) m
• Vietnamese: : học giả (vi)

a person eminent for their achievements

• Polish: sawant m, sawantka f
• Spanish: savant m or f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} âlim (tr), ^{(please verify)} bilgin (tr)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “savant”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• avants, sat nav, sat-nav, satnav

French

Etymology

Old present participle of the verb savoir (modern: sachant).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.vɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

savant (feminine savante, masculine plural savants, feminine plural savantes)

1. scholarly, scientific, learned

   nom savant ― scientific name

   emprunt savant ― learned borrowing

   musique savante ― art music

2. clever, shrewd, skilful

   savant mélange ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. performing, trained

   singe savant ― trained monkey

   un chien savant ― a performing dog

   cheval savant ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• savamment

Noun

savant m (plural savants, feminine savante)

1. scholar, scientist

   Near-synonym: érudit

   savant fou ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Participle

savant

1. (obsolete) present participle of savoir

   Synonym: sachant

Further reading

• “savant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• avants, vantas

Middle English

Conjunction

savant

1. alternative form of savynge

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French savant.

Noun

savant m (plural savanți)

1. scholar, scientist

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	savant	savantul	savanți	savanții
genitive-dative	savant	savantului	savanți	savanților
vocative	savantule		savanților