Etymology

savant

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Today it means: A person of learning, especially one who is versed in literature or science. Full definition →

French savant ← Latin sapiō
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromsapiō
  2. French · borrowed fromsavant
  3. English todaysavant

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.